


Danganronpa: Death Game by Majority

by unlikablewonderland (orphan_account)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, キミガシネ | Kimi ga Shine | Your Turn To Die (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gen, I made this on a whim
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:08:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25181506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/unlikablewonderland
Summary: “Never again” was a promise they couldn’t keep.Despair is a disease; it spreads quickly and the effects are disastrous. Even after you’ve contained it, one misstep can lead to the whole world catching it.The Tragedy is just a history topic taught in classes now. Survivors and Future Foundation members tell the tragic tales and promise hopeful futures. The Ultimate Student, Sara Chidouin, who is enrolled at Hope’s Peak Academy, knows everything about the Tragedy. The thing that always interested her the most were the killing games. It was a touchy topic, but nevertheless, Sara had always been the most curious about that.She never expected to be forced to learn the despair a killing game brought.THIS WORK HAS BEEN CANCELLED(i’m very sorry but i won’t be attempting to finish this story at all - so if you do decide to read this anyways, you should know this story ends after the first trial. if you wanted to know where it was going, drop a comment and i’ll answer about what would’ve happened. again, sorry!!)
Relationships: Chidouin Sara/Kageyama Ranmaru, Egokoro Nao/Yabusame Reko, Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto, note that naoreko and naegiri aren't central
Comments: 9
Kudos: 70





	1. Prologue

From the ruins of despair blossomed a new life. A new hope, and a new future for us all.

I walked around the school premises, curiously watching the builders skillfully plan the renovations. This school was once a school of hope before being tarnished by despair. I wondered if the workers were aware of the brutal murders that had taken place in the room next door. After The Tragedy had finally ended, I had already set my sights on restoring Hope’s Peak Academy. The Future Foundation agreed to rebuild it and restore it.  
That’s what lead me here. Luck, hope, despair, death, but now, at the end of it all, I had a future. A future full of hope. This was the hope I had been fighting for.

I was so lost in my thoughts to hear the soft steps of a woman approach. Not just any woman, actually. This amazing woman and I had a future together. She slid her hand into mine, and rested her head on my shoulder. Her long, lavender hair was gently being blown by the wind, and I could tell her purple eyes were looking at the construction, filled with the same hope that filled mine.

“I never expected us to come back here,” Kyoko whispered in my ear.

“Especially as the principals,” I responded.

“About that,” Kyoko said, unsure, “you sure that’s a good idea? I’m okay with it, but it might be a bit difficult to walk past some rooms-”

“I’ll be okay with it,” I cut Kyoko off with a bright smile, “that’s why we’re here. To solidify a hopeful future for students and make sure it never happens again.”

Kyoko placed a hand on my cheek, “never again,” she said, tone soft but full of determination.

“Never again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! This is just a hopeful and short prologue to introduce you to my style of writing and whatevs. If you haven't figured it out or you just want some confirmation, yes, the prologue is being told from Makoto's point of view. Most, if not all the other chapters following this one should be from Sara's. Hope you enjoyed this short piece and I hope y'all stick around for the future chapters!


	2. The Walk Home

It took me a while to figure out I was awake. Disoriented from sleep, I propped my cheek on my palm and began rubbing the tiredness away from my eyes. I let out a small yawn as I stretched. Looking around, I could spot rows of desks, all empty. The silence was heavy, making me feel more alone than I really was. The trees outside were swaying slightly and I could hear the wind whistling. Rubbing my jaw, I could recall dozing off during maths. Not ideal behaviour for the Ultimate Student. I took out my phone to text my dad, but then I remembered that this morning both him and mom were going to be at a meeting for something, and would be busy. With a few missing calls from dad came a stream of new texts from Joe Tazuna, my best friend. My phone wouldn’t stop vibrating as Joe was beating the records for fastest spam ever sent.

I stumbled out of the school and made my way to the front gate. According to his texts, that’s where Joe was waiting. The moment I was in his eyesight, I could hear him holler, “SARA! SAARRAAAA!”

I walked up to the messy haired boy. Joe was tall and wore many accessories, including gold earrings, hairclips and a small dog keychain I gifted him that he always kept in his breast pocket. He had soft and round features and was generally seen with a huge smile on his face. His endearing black eyes and overall expressions portrayed a variety of emotions that made him appear more genuine and friendly. Joe had a way of dressing himself in a way that seemed stylish and careless. That applied to how he wore his school uniform. It was messy but fashionable, in a sense. He also liked to wear bulky, blue shoes that gave him another inch in height. Right now, the gaudy boy was absolutely brimming with excitement.

“You waited this long for clubs? I thought I was going to die from waiting for so long,” Joe groaned, running a hand through his brown hair. His fingers got stuck in between a few tangles and knots.

“I didn’t wait around for clubs,” I yawned, “I fell asleep in class.”

“That’s not very Ultimate Student-like of you!” Joe joked.

“Being impatient isn’t very Ultimate Friend-like of you,” I responded.

Joe laughed. While I was the Ultimate Student, he was the Ultimate Friend. While I soared academically, Joe succeeded socially. His friendliness and charisma weren’t the only thing that earned him the title. Joe had also conducted research about the ‘Science of Friendship.’ It was basically a science report on how to befriend every human on Earth.

“Oh! By the way, thank you so much, Sara!”

“Uh, for what?” I asked, genuinely confused. Did I do something? Is he still thanking me for letting him copy my homework two weeks ago?

“For introducing me to Ryoko, of course!” He was totally overjoyed, “she’s such a sweetheart! On our date today, she was just so polite and sweet and amazing and-”

Joe spent most of the walk home gushing about how brilliant Ryoko was. As Ryoko’s friend, of course I knew how amazing Ryoko was, but Joe was really determined to tell me every five minutes that she was polite and sweet and amazing and brilliant and absolutely spectacular.

“So, did you kiss?” I interjected, cutting him off before he could continue with how incredible Ryoko was.

“Kiss? Only monsters kiss on their first dates!” He seemed absolutely appalled, “no! We just held hands!”

A goofy smile spread across his face, “I mean, she was helping me out of a ditch, but it was still absolutely amazing!”

“Is that really why you went back to school? To tell me about how amazing your date went?” I asked.

“Well, yes, and no, but mainly yes,”

“What do you mean?”

He hesitated, “well, I know you’ve been having problems with your stalker,” he answered honestly.

“So that’s why you’ve been walking me home ever since I told you?”

“Yeah.”

We walked in a comfortable silence for a bit. Only the occasional car interrupted it, aside from the jangle of Joe’s bracelets.

“Well, thank you,” I said, after I decided to break the silence.

“It’s my duty as your best friend!” He grinned, “you know, you should get a boyfriend to protect you. A best friend can only do so much.”

“Oh, shut up,” I say with a smile.

We joked around for a while, lightening the mood in the dark environment. In the middle of a joke, I saw it. The obscure yet tall figure standing threateningly under a dim streetlight. Still. Watching. Waiting. I could feel those eyes, those cold, dead, black eyes, bore into my soul.

A shiver went up my spine.

“Joe…” I said quietly.

“Yeah?” He could sense my fear, “what’s up?”

“It’s the stalker,” the blood in my veins went cold. My heartbeat began to rise and my palms became sweaty, “Joe! C’mon, run!”

Before he could say anything, I had already grabbed his wrist and began sprinting back home. The thumping of our feet and the panicked thoughts swirling our head were loud enough to drain the stalker's yelling. 

"Don't go home!" the stalker yelled after us.

In hindsight, we should've listened to him.


	3. Mom?

Home.

We made it.

Panting and holding onto each other, Joe and I approached the porch.

“We… we,” Joe huffed, “we made it!” He raised his fists in victory.

Still panting, with my hands resting on my hips, I looked behind me cautiously. Did the stalker follow me home? Would they come back? Did they want anything from us?

“Hey, Sara,” Joe gently put a hand on my shoulder, “they aren’t coming back. Or at least, not for a while.”

He smiled, and his words resonated with me. He said that with such confidence, I was sure the stalker wouldn’t come back. At least for now. But still, his words couldn’t make my anxiety fully rest. I still felt jumpy, and fearful, but much calmer than I was before.

“Joe?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, Sara!” He flashed me his iconic smile.

“Be careful on your way home, okay?” I said, my tone shifting from grateful to dead serious.

“I will. I’ll hold him back with my incredible karate abilities!”

We shared a relieved laugh because we knew Joe couldn’t fight and we both parted ways. He left my driveway and I tried the door handle. To my surprise, it was open. Maybe mom left it open for me? That wouldn’t be the first time she did something like that.

Something felt wrong. I stepped into the house and an immense feeling of uneasiness swept over me. I threw my bag on the floor and cautiously looked around, trying to reason out my panicked thoughts. There were many questionable things from the moment I stepped inside. For one, it was incredibly dark. It was the kind of dark you see in horror movies, when the protagonist bravely walks into the basement only to be greeted by the light being smashed and chaos ensuing.

I shouldn’t be thinking like that.

“Mom?” I called, “Dad?”

I turned on the hallway lights, and made my way to the living room. The lights were off in there too. I stepped inside, my voice ringing throughout the silent house. The only response was my echo. Still yelling and using the sliver of the light from the hallway to feel around for the light switch, I finally flicked it on.

And I screamed.

“Mom!”

I kneeled down beside her body. Her ghostly pale skin was cold on mine, and I desperately pressed my finger on her wrist, praying to feel a heartbeat. I could feel it. Weak, but present. I reached in my pocket to find my phone, but I felt nothing but the fabric. I had left it in my bag that was still in the hallway.

I got up, body trembling, and stumbled into the hallway, where a tall figure stood. Black eyes examined my panicked state.

“Sara?” the voice called from the end of the hall.

“Joe!” I said, relieved, “it’s my mom,” I breathed heavily, my fingernails digging into my palms in a panic, “she’s unconscious in the living room.”

His expression shifted from confused to panicked, “okay, you should go find your dad, I’ll call an ambulance.”

Joe rushed past me to the living room, bringing his phone out and quickly dialing the ambulance. His calm head made me feel slightly more in control of the situation. I trusted that he would be able to call the ambulance and administer whatever first aid the operator instructed him to do. With my nails still digging into my skin, I began looking around for my dad. I checked every room, calling out his name, only to be greeted with an unbearably loud silence. Every empty room made me feel despair. My bedroom was the last destination. Without any hesitation, I pushed open the door.

“Dad? Dad, are you here?” My eyes couldn’t see very well in the darkness. I began feeling around for the light switch, but felt something else instead. Instead of the smooth plastic of a light switch, I could feel cracked skin. Little bumps and callouses, and long, spidery fingers.

I gasped, and immediately retracted my hand. Before I could scream, or even move, I could feel that same hand over my mouth. That freakishly cold and dry skin, rubbing against my lips, with another arm across my body to prevent moving. I instinctively reached out to grab the hands of the perpetrator, but they were ahead of me. A fabric that stank of chemicals was pressed against my face, and I felt a wave of drowsiness overtake me. My eyelids slowly fluttered closed, and my body slumped onto the carpet. Still fighting the chemicals, I could spot Joe run in.

I don’t know what happened after that, because the world disappeared.


	4. The First Trial

This feeling of disorientation was getting annoying really fast. I felt even worse than when I first woke up in the abandoned classroom. I was lying, facing the roof, on a hard bed. Still dazed, I tried to move. I began to move every limb of my body; they all seemed to be bound to the bed, except my right arm. With my right arm, I began feeling around the binds. There were huge, strong strips of metal wrapping my legs, left arm, torso and head to the bed. With a new sense of panic, I looked at the room I was in. It was bland and barren; a white roof and white walls. It was the kind of room hostages are held in, screaming as they lose every common sense and spiral into insanity. I tried to quickly grasp the situation at hand. While my mind still felt foggy, I could distinctly remember passing out. As I recalled those last moments of consciousness, I remembered.

“Mom!” I shouted, suddenly wide awake with adrenaline, “Joe!”

“Sara?” A voice responded.

“Joe!” I exclaimed, turning my head to the right. The metal had left enough space for me to move my head.

“Sara!” Joe’s face was contorted with fear and confusion. Instead of his friendly smile, his mouth was open as he let out panicked breaths. There were bright green restraints on him too. The same restraints that were rendering my body useless.

“Where are we-” I began.

“Beginning voiced guidance.”

The disembodied voice echoed throughout the eerie room.

“…huh?” Joe said, confused.

“The first trial will now begin,” the voice continued, “Sara, Joe, find the key hidden in this room. Then, remove your restraints. If you cannot do so before the time limit expires, the device on the beds will activate.”

I could feel my breathing quicken.

“And your bodies will be crushed with a thud.”

For a second, the voice stopped to let the reality of the situation settle in. The reality was too hard to face. Our bodies would be crushed. We would die.

“By all means, please enjoy this thrill with all your body and soul. The time limit is a healthy five minutes. And note, that there is only one key, so please discuss who will use it.”

And just like that, the voice disappeared, as if it hadn’t just drowned us in the possibility of dying.

“What do we do?” Joe said, obviously panicking. If he hadn’t snapped me back into reality, I don’t think I’d be here.

“I…” my voice faltered, “check your pockets!”

I checked my own, and desperately shoving my sweaty hand in and rummaging around.

“I’ve got something!” Joe exclaimed, “it’s a key!”

“Use it on the restraints!” I ordered.  
“Sara…” he said, unsure, “there’s only one key.”

Fighting my own desire to have possess key, I exclaimed, “just use it! I believe in you!”

Those five minutes were the most terrifying minutes of my life. As I lay there, all I could hear was Joe rummaging around, cursing under his breath in panic. I felt like I was going to drown. I had no control over this situation. I was forced to wait as Joe was forced to solve the riddle to save my life. I was going to drown in these feelings of panic, despair, and uselessness. I could feel the weight of death pressing on my chest, blurring my thoughts and restricting my breathing. Death was slowly creeping closer every second Joe took. I closed my eyes, praying. Begging. Death couldn’t take me. Not yet, at least.

Then I heard the lock click.

My prayers were answered.

Joe appeared before my eyes, quickly pulling off the restraints. The feeling of despair was quickly replaced by a feeling of gratitude, as Joe pulled me off the bed. I didn’t notice it, but both my and Joe’s bodies were trembling in fear.

“C’mon, through the door,” he said, pointing at a steel door.

As he pulled the door open, I took one last look at the room. I could’ve died in here. My body would’ve been crushed in just a-

**_THUD_ **

I yelped out in shock. The bed had folded together. If Joe hadn’t gotten me out, my body would’ve been crushed right then and there. I would’ve died. I couldn’t help but imagine it. Imagine my life ending in a mysterious white room. Ended in a simple thud.

“Sara,” Joe’s voice plead, “let’s go.”

My shaken body followed him into a dark hallway. Once again, Joe’s presence had snapped me out of my spiraling thoughts. What would I have done without him?

“Where does this lead?” I asked. I was shocked by the sound of my own voice; it was hoarse and trembling slightly.

“I dunno,” Joe answered, “should we just make a run for it?”

“No!” I exclaimed.

Joe didn’t listen to me. Before I could lecture him on how running full-speed in a pitch black hallway after we’ve just been kidnapped and forced to endure a life or death game is the stupidest thing we could do, I could feel his soft hands, sweaty from anxiety, clasp around my wrist.

“C’mon, let’s go!”

He sprinted off, pulling me behind him.

Despite my annoyed shouting, he kept running, pulling me with him. We kept running and running and running. Running from that room where life could be ended in one simple thud. Running from the stalker. Running away from death. Maybe we had run a mile, or perhaps we had only run a meter or two from the first trial room. It was hard to tell, especially in the pitch black hallway. Whether the distance covered was a mile or a meter, we still had to stop to take a breath. With Joe’s hand still clasping my wrist, we leaned on each other. We were exhausted from running. Exhausted from playing a game of life or death. We were tired both mentally and physically. We just needed a break. A small break where we could just be normal high schoolers again.

The dark hallway was just that; a dark hallway. There were no light switches. I ran my fingers against the wall, as Joe panted and rested.

“Is there anything we could use for light?” I called out into the darkness. Joe had let go of me, so I was unaware of his whereabouts.

“I checked my pockets earlier. I don’t have my phone on me,” I could sense that he was frowning despite the pitch black.

I could feel small gushes of wind under my feet.   
“Do you feel that?” I asked.

“Yes,” Joe began walking aimlessly, the sounds of his footsteps thumping loudly so I could tell where he was.   
Suddenly, those footsteps stopped, and the wind grew even stronger. There was no more floor; only wind.

“Are we flying?” I asked, my stomach dropping.

“No,” Joe responded fearfully, “we’re _falling_.”


	5. Familiar Faces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! Hope you don't mind that I switched from first person to third person. First person isn't my style. Hope that isn't inconvenient or something for you!

“Hey. You can’t just stay there forever, miss.”

A low voice woke Sara up. While still rubbing the confusion from her eyes, she faced a tall man. He had a muscular build and an objectively handsome face. That being said, his hair was a horrendous blond that gave off the impression that he dyed it while he was in the middle of a mid-life crisis. The blond man, who Sara estimated was aged in his mid-twenties, had a hand stretched out towards her, to help her up from the ground. She hesitantly grabbed his hand and pulled herself off the ground.  
“Where are we?” Sara asked the blond man.

“No clue. But from the looks of it, a school gymnasium.”

Sara looked around the room. The big room did heavily resemble a school gym. It was incredibly big, and they were standing on a basketball court. There was even a stage and large bleachers. Seeing the gym poked at a hidden memory in her mind; a memory that was deep in the back in her mind. Sara tried to remember where she recognized this gym from, but her memory was foggy.

Sara scouted out the area. Many people were scattered across the gym, most of them conversing with each other. Still standing with the blond man, she began looking around for a mess of brown hair.

“Sara!”

Sara turned to look behind her. There he was, sitting on the bleachers. Joe was ecstatically waving at her, with two familiar strangers sitting by his side.

Sara walked over, smiling because she had found Joe once again.

“Sara!” He grinned, “look who I found!”

He pointed at the two other kids he sat with. Both of them were also students of Hope’s Peak, and Sara’s classmates. Just like Sara and Joe, the two classmates were best friends with each other.

A shapely girl gave Sara a wave and flashed her a friendly smile. She wore a yellow hoodie that covered her shoulder-length hair that was dyed blue and pink. She had naturally tanned skin, and her eyes were full of warmth. The girl, Anzu Kinashi, was the Ultimate Acrobat. As inferred from her Ultimate title, Anzu was an incredibly skilled acrobat. Curiously, she also worked as a clown on the side. Anzu sat next to a boy, wearing a cropped black jacket over a striped shirt. The boy had snow white hair that was dyed; you could see the dirty blond roots growing back in. With his icy blue eyes distracted and mind somewhere else, he hesitantly waved at Sara. He was the Ultimate Mystery Novelist, and his works were published under the name Ranmaru Kageyama.

“Hi, Anzu!” Sara greeted, “hey, Ranmaru.”

“Hey, Sara!” Anzu exclaimed, jumping off her seat to wrap Sara into a hug.

 _Oh wow_ , Sara thought, caught off-guard, _I did not think we were close enough to warrant this kind of greeting._

Anzu let go and sat back down next to Ranmaru. Joe, who was still standing up, put an arm around Sara.

“This is a strange reunion, huh?” Joe joked, trying to make light of the situation.

“Yeah,” Anzu agreed, “Joe filled us in on what happened to you guys. The stalker, the kidnapping, and this ‘first trial.’”

“We had the exact same thing happen to us, except for the stalker bit. And our first trials were different,” Ranmaru explained, “Anzu and I had totally different trials. We were alone in our trials. You guys got to be with each other.”

“That’s strange,” Joe remarked, “but it’s nice knowing we know a few more people here.”

“Yeah, who are these people anyways?” Ranmaru asked, scouting out the rest of the gym like Sara did.

  
The four students were sitting from the middle-ground of the bleachers, and had a good view of the gym. They could spot many people. There was a lady with feathery pink hair talking to an old man that reflected the stereotypical mad scientist look. The pink-haired lady was dressed in blue overalls and holding hands with a taller lady with heavy make-up and black, spiky hair. Across the gym was the blond man, who was conversing with a tall, muscular man with shockingly red hair. The blond man was already pretty tall, but the red-haired man made the blond man look small. With the blond man and the red-haired giant was a child. The child was wearing a cape with a hoodie with cat ears, and was hugging a cat cushion. The child wore big mittens resembling cat paws, begging the question on how he was able to hold anything that wasn’t bulky.

The four kept looking around, spotting many unique people. There was a lone man that with a frail build and a green beanie pulled over fluffy teal hair, a lanky man with shaggy brown hair and rectangular glasses wearing a grey suit (“He looks like a tired dad,” Anzu observed. Sara agreed, but the man seemed a bit too young to have a child), a tanned, muscular man that Joe swore he had seen on TV before with multicoloured hair who was sitting with two girls. The tanned man seemed uninterested in the two girls, who were whispering to each other. The first girl was short and younger than Sara, with long pink hair and eye bags that rivaled the blond man’s. The other girl was probably in her early-twenties and had a uniquely shaped hat (“It’s like a giant cream puff on her head!” Joe exclaimed) perched on top of her brown hair. They both wore matching uniforms; a brown dress with a puffy skirt and white lace.

Leaning on the wall furthest from the four Ultimates was a suspicious looking man wearing a striped jumpsuit. The jumpsuit was black and white and was frayed at the collar and sleeves. Immediately, Sara assumed he was a prisoner, and the ball and chain wrapped around his waist along with the handcuffs on his left wrist were damning evidence that he was a convict. The convict’s hair was separated into two parts; the right side was blue and long, covering his eye. The other side was shaved with magenta and yellow stripes. There was also a small girl, who seemed to be shaken up. She was leaning against the stage, rocking herself back and forth. Her hands were wrapped around a bucket that sat on her head. There was also an odd man. He was tall and slim, standing awkwardly in the middle. He wore a red apron and was holding cookware. Unlike everyone else, who was either with people or lost in their own thoughts, he seemed to be watching everyone. Not observing, like Sara, but watching.

As the four teens observed everyone, Sara noticed the blond man stand in the middle of the gym with the red-haired giant and the cape-wearing child were standing with him, and eventually the crowd became bigger and bigger. Everyone began crowding around the blond man and Sara could tell he was speaking.

“We should see what they’re doing,” Sara declared, climbing down the steps of the bleachers.

“Are you sure?” Joe asked.

Sara looked at him strangely.

“I mean, we don’t know them. Unlike Anzu and Ranmaru, those people are complete strangers,” Joe said nervously, “how can we trust them?”

“I agree with Joe,” Anzu said, eyebrows knitted together.

“I think they’re in the same situation as us,” Sara assured Joe, trying to hide her own doubts, “for now, I think we should trust them.”

Joe and Anzu didn’t look persuaded.

“C’mon, guys,” Ranmaru encouraged, “I’m with Sara. I doubt that they’re on the side of the kidnappers.”

He gestured at the group of them, especially at the blond man who was waving at them to come over.

“They seem as confused as we do. I think our best option is to go talk to them. We can decide whether we trust them later.”

With that, the snow-haired boy began walking down the steps of the bleachers and approached the group of strangers. Sara looked at Joe and Anzu. Both of their faces were painted with a nervous frown, but they still followed Ranmaru.

 _The side of the kidnappers_ , Sara thought. It was a concept Ranmaru had very calmly brought up. _These people might be on the side of the people who kidnapped us?_ Sara wondered.

_Is my stalker one of them?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey again! Yeah, this one's a pretty boring chapter. In the next chapter I can guarentee the introductions; I won't be calling Keiji the 'blond man (having a mid-life crisis)' anymore.


	6. Introductions

Apprehensively, Sara joined the circle of strangers. She counted everyone; there were 18 people there, including herself. Sara stood in the middle of Joe and Anzu, thankful for some familiar faces among these strangers.

“Ahem,” the blond man started, “I think we should get to know each other a bit more.”

“My mom told me to not give out personal information to strangers, woof!” the child with the cat cushion said.

“I agree with him,” Joe blurted.

All eyes turned to Joe.

“Not to be rude, but I don’t know any of you guys,” Joe defended, crossing his arms, “how should I know who to trust?

“Well, I guess we must prove we aren’t suspicious characters,” replied the man in the apron. Something struck Sara about his voice; it was eerily familiar. The raspy yet soft tone bothered her. Why did it sound so familiar?

“I guess I should introduce myself,” the blond man said, snapping Sara out of her thoughts, “my name’s Keiji Shinogi. I’m working as a policeman.”

“A policeman?” Joe exclaimed, “dammit, shouldn’t have been so wary,” he muttered under his breath.

“Got abducted in the middle of an investigation,” Keiji continued, “wonder if we got kidnapped by that criminal group.”

“Criminal group?”

“Just a group of petty thieves,” Keiji shrugged, "they wouldn't be able to pull something like this off."

“Is your coworker not here?” Sara asked.

Looking away from Sara, the policeman responded, “sure isn’t.”

 _Just like Ranmaru and Anzu_ , Sara thought to herself, _not everyone came in pairs._

Sara went around to talk to everyone. The man in the grey suit was named Shunuke Hayasaka, and claimed to know the tanned muscleman (Naomichi Kurumada, a famous boxer) and Keiji (who did confirm that they knew each other from school). Both Kurumada and Hayasaka seemed to be friends, and only acquaintances with Keiji. The red-haired giant, Q-Taro, was a pitcher in baseball. He did mention he played other roles, but his pitching was the strongest.

“What dialect is that?” Sara asked curiously. His dialect was scattered; it switched so suddenly Sara thought she was going to get whiplash.

“No kiddin’, what is it indeed? Grew up in an orphanage, so it’s prolly a mix of a whole bunch. We also moved around often,” Q-Taro shrugged.

Sara walked over to the two girls wearing puffy skirts. The one with a big hat immediately introduced herself excitedly.

“Oh, hello!” she smiled, excited, “I’m Mai Tsurugi!”

She squeezed the other girl, tangling the girl’s pink hair.

“And this is my shorty sister, Hinako!”

Hinako smiled slyly at Sara. She was younger than her; most likely 15. Despite her youth, she had eyebags that rivalled Keiji’s.

“So, what do you guys do?” Sara asked.  
“I own and run my own bakery!” Mai answered enthusiastically, “Hinako helps out, too! But most of the time, she just challenges the customers to a game of chess. She’s never lost a game.”

“Well, I have once-” Hinako began.

“Don’t be modest!”

Sara left the two and introduced herself to the child with a cat cushion. He was the youngest person out of everyone, and introduced himself as Gin Ibushi.

“Nice introduction, kiddo,” Keiji told Gin.

“I don’t need your approval, woof!” Gin barked back.

“You’re one tough kid!” Sara complimented him.

“Of course I am! I’m going to make those kidnappers pay, meow!”

“He seems to like you more than me,” Keiji mumbled.

“I trust you, big sis Sara,” Gin said, before sticking his tongue out at Keiji.

Sara walked over to Anzu and Ranmaru with Gin by her side. The two were introducing themselves to the man with a beanie pulled over his messy teal hair.

“I’m Ranmaru. Ultimate Mystery Novelist at Hope’s Peak,” Ranmaru finished.

The beanie man had stiffened slightly, before quickly regaining his composure, “I’m Sou Hiyori. I’m just a job-hopper,” he said timidly.

“So, living hand-to-mouth?” Gin asked.

“H-hey,” Sou shook his head, “don’t put it like that. It’s not much, but I have a ton of savings.”

“And, who are you two, anyways?” Sou asked Sara and Gin.

“This is Sara Chidouin, our friend!” Anzu said, “and he’s Gin Ibushi!”

“Seems like you have many friends, miss Sara,” Sou nodded, “you seem to be trustworthy. I’m jealous.”

Sara and Ranmaru walked up to the man in the apron. Sara was immediately hit with a wave of familiarity. She looked into the man’s black eyes, trying to remember where she recognized them.

“Ranmaru,” Ranmaru said, pointing at himself, “and this is Sara.”

“Ah, I’m Kai Satou. I presume you two are high school students.”

“Yeah, actually,” Ranmaru answered, “we go to the same school. Hope’s Peak. I’m the Ultimate Mystery Novelist and she’d the Ultimate Student.”

“Those are some rather remarkable titles,” Kai said, face expressionless, “I’m a homemaker. Akin to a house husband.”

“What’s with the cookware?” Ranmaru asked, looking at Kai’s hands. His hands, dried and calloused, were holding a bunch of cookware. A spatula, ladle and frying pan, more specifically.

“They were in the first trial room I was in,” Kai shrugged.

Ranmaru looked at Sara suspiciously. She had cheerfully conversed with everybody so far, but now she had gone silent. Her mind was somewhere else. Ranmaru reached over to nudge her to snap her back to reality, but she came to her senses before he could.

“Do I know you?” Sara asked suddenly.

“Well, I know you’re Sara Chidouin,” Kai shrugged.

Sara kept looking at him suspiciously.

 _Sure, he’s a strange character_ , Ranmaru thought, looking at his variety of cookware, _but he doesn’t seem all that suspicious._

“Maybe I should get rid of the cookware,” Kai said.

“I disagree,” Ranmaru answered, “the frying pan would be a good weapon.”

Sara scanned the room. Joe, Anzu and Gin were conversing with the unhinged scientist, lady with pink feathered hair and the punk lady. Sara hadn’t properly introduced herself to them, so she began to approach the small group. Before she went over there, somebody caught her eye. A girl nobody had talked too, at least to her knowledge. She had joined them but never introduced herself. The girl was clinging to a bucket on her head, rocking herself on the floor. She was mumbling to herself. Sara walked over, making little noise so she wouldn’t shock her.

“Hey,” Sara said gently.

The girl looked up at Sara with fearful eyes.

“If you want to, could you talk to me?” Sara asked, making sure to keep her voice gentle and warm.

The girl was silent for a bit, but still abided.

“Um, I’ll say,” the girl took in a trembly breath, “I’m Kanna Kizuchi.”

Her voice was still trembling, she kept rocking back and forth. Her breathing had steadied slightly, and she wasn’t so shaken anymore. Sensing Kanna’s slightly calmer state, Sara decided to keep talking to her.

“What happened before you got here?” Sara asked. A simple question; anyone could answer this.  
“I… I was coming home,” Kanna stuttered, “with my big sister. We were eating ice-cream.”

Kanna’s face darkened, “then some scary people came out of nowhere. Then they took us here.”

Kanna began mumbling, pulling the bucket towards her forcefully. Sara couldn’t make out what she was saying. Sara kept asking for Kanna to speak up, and eventually she did.  
“Here, here, here, here, here, here, here,” Kanna gasped, “my sister, here… how?”

Kanna’s voice turned into a heart breaking sob, “how? Why? My sister!”

Sara reached out to hold the girl’s shoulders, only to be met with more screaming sobs.

“MY SISTER!” Kanna cried.

“She’s dead!”

Kanna’s trembling voice wasn’t loud enough for everyone to hear. They were all immersed in their own conversations; too busy to hear the screams of a little girl who lost her sister. Sara immediately began to try and calm her down, by patting her on the back and whispering “it’s alright,” repeatedly. She let Kanna sob into her shoulder, holding her tightly.

“Is she okay?”

Sara looked up to see Sou, who was standing above her. His eyebrows were knitted together in worry as he saw the crying girl.

“Her sister,” Sara couldn’t manage to get the words out, “in the first trial…” Sara’s voice trailed off.

Sou could understand what Sara meant, and quickly sat down next to Kanna and wrapped an arm around her trembling body.

“Sara, you should go introduce yourself to everyone,” he said calmly, “I’ve got this.”

“Are you sure?” Sara asked.

“Yes.”

Sara hesitantly left Kanna with Sou, mind racing in fear. Whatever the hell was happening was real. This wasn’t a joke. This was real. Somebody died. Whoever was doing this didn’t hesitate to take away lives. When she looked back, Kanna was leaning against his arm while he whispered something in her ear. He had wrapped his pink scarf around her shoulders.

Ignoring her anxieties, she walked over to the last group of people she hadn’t introduced herself too yet. It consisted of the crazy scientist, the girl with pink feathered hair and her punk girlfriend.

“I am Kazumi Mishima, and I teach Japanese and art at a certain high school,” the crazy scientist said.

“You don’t teach science?” a voice piped in.

Sara turned behind her, where the man with the frayed, striped jumpsuit stood.

“Are you really a teacher?” the man challenged, again.

Mishima blinked, “well, yes. This is my student, actually,” he gestured at the lady with pink feathered hair.

“Going by appearances, you’re the caricature of an unhinged scientist,” the man responded easily.

“H-hey!” The girl with pink feathered hair squared the FUCK up, standing in front of her teacher, “repent! He’s an excellent teacher! Because of him, I’ve become more successful than you’ll ever be!”

The punk lady who had been holding hands with the art student also came to Mishima’s defence, “and judging strictly off looks, you’re a convict who broke out of prison,” she spat, coldly.

The supposed convict backed off, going silent.

“Um,” Sara began, “hi, there. I’m Sara Chidouin,” she said, hoping to change the subject, “I’m a high school student; I go to Hope’s Peak. I’m the Ultimate Student.”

“Ah, Hope’s Peak,” Mishima said, “I used to work there.”

“You did?”

“Yes! In fact, both miss Reko and miss Nao graduated from that very school,” Mishima smiled.

“Wait, really?”

The lady with pink feathered hair smiled, “I’m Nao Egokoro, the Ultimate Painter!”

Nao hugged the punk lady, planting a kiss on her arm, “and this is my girlfriend, Reko Yabusame! Ultimate Rock Star!”

“Hope’s Peak?” the Q-Taro approached, “other ultimates?”

Even Keiji had turned around when he heard that.

“Is everyone here familiar with Hope’s Peak?” Keiji asked everyone in the group.

Everybody mumbled agreement, including the convict. Only Kai, Gin, Kanna and Sou stayed silent.

“They scouted me for next year,” Hinako shrugged, “they told me they gave me the title of Ultimate Chess Player.”

“Ultimate Baker over here!” Mai twirled around in delight.

“Ultimate Student,” Sara said.

“Ultimate Violinist,” Hayasaka chirped.

“Ultimate Friend,” Joe exclaimed.

“A room full of Ultimates,” Keiji muttered, “what could that mean?”

“Puhuhuhu! I wonder what it could mean!”


	7. Midori

All eyes averted to the stage. A man stood on the stage, microphone in hand. He wore a black suit, and a scarf that clashed dreadfully with it. His hair was short and wavy and he sported a ridiculous rattail. He had a scarf draped around his shoulders. The same scarf that Sou had wrapped around Kanna. Sara looked at Sou suspiciously. While owning and wearing the same scarf made her suspicious, she couldn’t imagine him being a bad guy. She watched him wipe away a few of Kanna’s tears before looking back at the stage in nervousness.

 _Yeah_ , Sara thought, _not a bad guy._

“Hello! Welcome!” the green haired man smiled at all of them despite the confusing situation they were stuck in.

“I am…” he trailed off, “well, I doubt my real name would be much fun, huh?”

He clapped his hands, “how about Midori? Or should I keep the legacy running and go by Monokuma?”  
 _Monokuma?_ Sara wondered, _isn’t that the bear-_  
The man interrupted Sara before she could finish her thoughts.  
“Midori it is! Monokuma’s time is done. My time is now.”  
“What the hell?” Ranmaru whispered under his breath. It accurately described the atmosphere in the room.   
“Nice to meet you all! I imagine we’ll all get closer as time passes by. By the end of this, we’ll all be holding hands and braiding each other’s hair!” an evil grin crept across his face, “of course, assuming you’re not dead, like me.”

“You’re dead?” Keiji asked, expressing Sara’s thoughts clearly.

“Well, of course,” Midori sighed, “my poor soul was murdered while I was still alive. Poor me.”

“Then how are you here, woof!” Gin called out.

“Ever heard of a robot?” Midori snapped. His carefree attitude had disappeared in the drop of a hat, “my remote control system is so complex, NASA can’t recreate nor comprehend it!”

Midori laughed at his own joke. Actually, more like his pathetic excuse of a punchline.

“That’s enough about lil’ old me,” Midori sighed, “we really must get on with the show.”

Midori sat on a table that was very conveniently placed behind him.  
“Let’s talk about your lives and how they’re meaningless,” he said.

Everyone stayed silent.  
In the silence, Ranmaru quietly muttered, “we got kidnapped for a therapy session?”  
Sara suppressed a chuckle.

“I’m kidding! Of course, some of your lives are more valuable than others, but that’s not what I want to talk about!” Midori joked, “let’s talk about what your life here is going to be like.”

He swung his feet onto the table and sat with his legs twisted like a pretzel. He tilted his head to the side, feigning a look of innocence.

“As Ultimates, you basically represent the hope of the world,” Midori sighed. He sounded tired; like he had said this a million times, “and to protect your sweet, hopeful and absolutely beautiful souls, you will all live a communal life solely within the confines of this building!”

He placed a palm on his cheek, smiling, “in our harmonious life, everyone will have to comply with the rules and regulations of this school.”  
Midori’s face was filled with childlike innocence, smiling at all of them cheerfully. But in an instant, his expression darkened. His face did not resemble sadness nor despair, but rather a twisted excitement.

“Now, regarding the end date for this communal life,” Midori said, “there isn’t one!”

_What?_

“In other words, you will all be stuck here until the day you die!”

“Until the day we die?” Mai stuttered, “but-”

“Don’t worry, my little bundles of hope! Our budget is actually pretty insane, so everything you need will be provided at our expense.”

“That’s the least of our problems,” the convict spat.

“You’re screwing with us, right?” Reko asked.

“How rude,” Midori pouted, “I am not screwing with you! I am no liar, and I would never lie about not lying!”

“That sentence made my brain hurt,” Joe mumbled.

“And, in case you were getting your hopes up,” Midori continued, unperturbed by the distraction, “you are completely cut off from the outside world. Your lives only exist in between these walls. You’ll never have to worry about the dirty, dirty land outside ever again! You can yell and scream and shout for help, but it’ll never come!”

“This has to be a joke,” Shin said.

Sara spun to her left. He was standing a bit away from her, with Kanna by his side. He also seemed shaken by the news.

“If this is a joke, it isn’t funny anymore!” Nao exclaimed.

“Jesus Christ, have a little faith in me, guys!” Midori groaned, “this isn’t a lie, nor a joke. A bunch of skeptics, all of you.”

“We’ll be stuck here until the day we die?” Gin looked up at Q-Taro, “I don’t wanna be stuck here ‘til the day I die!”

“We have to live life here? That would be,” Hinako trailed off, “unfavourable.”

“God, you all just got here. You did the first trials and you already wanna leave? The fun’s just getting started!” Midori exclaimed.

“What do you mean, ‘the fun’s just getting started?’” Keiji asked.

“As the almighty person in charge, I’ve created a special clause for those of you who would like to leave! It’s a fun little rule and I think it will make your communal lives so much more interesting!”

Sara could feel the atmosphere in the room tighten. Everybody wanted to leave. Even Sara found herself impatiently waiting for Midori to spit out the rule. She would do anything to get back home to see her mom and dad. To see Ryoko. To go to school. She was willing to do whatever it takes to not be there.

“In our communal lifestyle, the staff are very persistent on keeping harmony. If someone were to disrupt that harmony, they, and they _alone_ , would be allowed to leave the school.”

“What do you mean by ‘disrupt the harmony?’” Kai asked.

“Puhuhu! Well, you know,” Midori giggled childishly, his eyes alight with twisted excitement, “if one person were to murder another.”

“Murder?!” Joe blurted out.

“Yes, murder!” Midori smiled, “stabbing, bludgeoning, strangling, crushing, hacking, drowning, igniting, how you do it doesn’t matter.”

“You must kill someone if you want to leave. It’s as simple as that,” Midori’s eyes glistened with evil, “the rest is up to you. Give it your all to achieve the best outcome in the worst way possible.”

A chill went up Sara’s spine. Her blood went cold, and her senses began to go blurry. Murder? They would have to murder each other to leave? Was one man’s freedom worth another man’s life?

“Isn’t that funny?” Midori asked, “seeing the symbols of hope in a situation like this. Taking that hope and seeing it get murdered creates a darkened shadow of despair.”

A grin creeped across his face, slowly expanding like a predator would stalk its prey.

“I just find that so darn exciting!”

He sighed, looking at the stunned audience.   
“This is insane!” Mai cried.  
“Let us go,” Kurumada demanded.  
“This must be a joke,” Q-Taro mumbled.  
“Murder? You can’t possibly really mean killing each other,” Nao said.

Midori groaned impatiently.  
“You guys really don’t get it, do you? From now on, this is your life. This is your home. Your life only exists in these walls. If you get tired of it, kill someone! Kill as much as you want to kill! Murder is totally a-okay!” Midori yelled.  
“Murder is totally not a-okay!” Joe shouted back.

  
“I’m done with this,” the convict swiftly hopped onto the stage, grabbing Midori by his throat. It was such a sudden movement that nobody reacted until Midori began choking.

“Guh,” Midori gasped, weakly trying to fight the convict.

“Let us the hell out of here,” he demanded.

“Violence… violence against authority is in violation of the rules,” Midori choked, hands weakly grabbing the convict’s arms.

The convict didn’t care. He just squeezed even tighter.

“Don’t make me do this again,” the convict mumbled, pressing harder.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Stop fucking beeping and let us all out of here!” the convict cried.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

“What, no smartass comeback this time?” he challenged.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP  
“SAY SOMETHING!” the convict hollered.  
“Get rid of it!” Sou yelled, “throw it away!”  
The convict snapped out of his fit of anger, “huh?”  
“Hurry up and throw it away!” Sou hollered. He had come across as timid, so seeing him yell with such ferocity seemed out of his nature.

The convict also seemed stunned by Sou’s sudden outburst, and did as he was told. He effortlessly threw Midori towards the back of the stage. Sara watched, confused and stressed as Midori-

BOOM

Midori’s body exploded. The smell of gunpowder overpowered everyone who began coughing. The sound of the boom rang in Sara’s ears. Looking back on the stage, Midori had been exploded. Mechanical parts had been scattered across the stage.

“The hell?” the convict said, coughing.

“Dear God,” Anzu muttered, looking up at the stage.

“Wait, if he was the person who runs this place,” Joe began, “and he’s been destroyed…”

“Doesn’t that mean we get to go home?” Joe asked everyone.

“No, dumbass.”

Joe yelped in surprise as the green-haired man reappeared. He was smiling, as if he didn’t just explode five minutes ago.

“You’re lucky I was feeling merciful,” he said, nodding in the convict’s direction, “the punishment for violating he school rules is death, ya know? You’re lucky I didn’t decide to do anything worse.”

The convict looked fearful, but stood his ground. On the other hand, Midori ignored him and turned his attention to everyone else.

“I’m also feeling pretty generous today,” he began passing out a tablet to everyone, “this is a e-handbook!”

The e-handbook was a small tablet that fit snuggly into Sara’s pocket. When she turned it on, the screen lit up and an even bigger hologram was displayed. It listed her name, age, height, weight, school and even her ultimate talent.

“As you can see, it’s like a driver’s license. It’ll have all your personal info, but it also includes all the rules and that. Even a map of this floor! Aren’t I so nice?”

Sara looked up at Midori in disgust.

“Well, that brings our meeting to a close,” Midori sighed, “I guess I’ll see you guys around. Be nice to the other staff members!” His face contorted in disgust, “except for Ranger. I don’t like him very much.”

Midori swiftly disappeared from sight, leaving everyone in the room more confused and scared than they already were.


	8. Anytime, Steelmind

Sara watched everybody leave the gym in pairs. After a brief discussion, Keiji had concluded that splitting up and investigating would be the most appropriate course of action, and that they’d meet up in the dining hall. Nao and Reko were staying, trying to calm Kanna down. Sou had done all he could, but it wasn’t enough. Frowning to herself, she recounted how Joe had left with Keiji instead of her. She was frustrated with him for leaving her for some random policeman but there were other things to focus on. She had thought about buddying up with Ranmaru or Anzu, but the two of them had left together.  
Sighing to herself, Sara headed towards the big doors leading out of the gym, when she felt a tap on her shoulder.  
“Miss Sara,” a voice said.  
Sara turned around to see Sou standing there.  
“I was hoping we could investigate together. You know, because everyone else has split in twos, and I’d go with Kanna but,” he gestured to Kanna who was being comforted by Reko and Nao, “she’s too overwhelmed already.”  
_Overwhelmed is an understatement,_ Sara thought.  
“Well, sure!” Sara agreed cheerfully. He _did_ seem friendly despite his timid nature.

A small trophy room was between the gym and the hall. It was adorned with golden trophies remarking the amazing talents of past students. She leaned closer to the glass. She could make out the text of one of the biggest trophies. A trophy for martial arts, won by-  
“Look at this,” Sou said.  
Sara walked over to Sou. He was looking upwards at a large camera that was painted an icky yellow colour. The disgusting yellow was the least strange design choice; attatched to the camera were large guns.  
“Why are there guns?” Sara asked.  
“Good question,” Sou answered, burying half his face in his scarf.

Leaving the trophy room, Sara and Sou passed by restrooms and an AV room before they saw it.  
A huge metal door, locked with advanced technologies they had never seen before. More cameras surrounded the door, focused on the convict who was closely observing a keypad that was placed just above his head.  
“Um, sir,” Sou said.  
The convict jumped back slightly, before grunting in acknowledgement. He went back to fiddling with the keypad, punching in numbers before deleting and retrying.  
“I was wondering if I could take a look at that,” Sou said, “as the Ultimate Coder; I’d have more of a chance breaking into this thing than your trial and error method.”

The convict begrudgingly stepped backward and let Sou observe the keypad. Sara turned to the convict. Looking at him closely, he wasn’t all that scary. Despite his over confident and threatening demeanor, he seemed as desperate and confused as everyone else.

“I don’t think we met,” Sara said, taking her chance. She walked over to him and held her hand out, “Sara Chidouin, Ultimate Student. How about you?”  
She tried her best to keep a bright smile as the convict stared at her apprehensively.  
“Gonbee… Gonbee Yamada,” he mumbled. Gonbee shook Sara’s hand. His grip was noticeably gentle; not at all what Sara expected.  
“And your Ultimate?” Sara asked.  
Gonbee snatched his hand back.  
“Thief,” Sara heard him mumble, “Ultimate Thief.”  
  


A green-haired lady bent over, scraping shards of glass into her hand. The liquid had already been wiped away, so now she was slowly picking up every piece of glass that had been shattered.  
“I’m sorry, meow,” Gin apologized.  
Mishima placed a hand on Gin’s shoulder, “it’s okay. It wasn’t your fault you slipped.”  
The green-haired lady quickly threw away the shattered glass and readjusted her hat. It was bulky and a bother to deal with, but it’s not like she could take it off.  
“Anything I can get for you?” She asked them, “do you need a bandaid? A hayfever tablet?” she stopped for a second, “I could even make you some tea if you desire.”  
“Well, I’ll take you up on that last offer,” Mishima smiled at her.  
Gin made a face, “I don’t like tea, woof!”  
“I could make a coffee?” She suggested.  
“Ew!”  
Despite her painted tears and her tearful façade, she smiled at the young child. But the smile disappeared as quick as it came. She frowned again, sniffing.  
“Augh! You’re so mean,” she exclaimed sadly.

Sara peered into a strangely barren room. It had off-white walls and a gothic gate in front of what looked to be an old looking elevator. She turned to point it out to Sou only to see him pull open the door to another room across the hall and disappear.  
_Rude,_ Sara thought.  
She followed him into the room he had entered. It was interesting, to say the least. It had the aesthetic of a rigged carnival stall mixed with a shop that sold poison apples. The stall was built with weathered wood that was once painted a bright orange that now appeared as a faded tangerine. Little prizes were strung from the roof, tied using thin, brown rope. The eerily bright colours danced around the room as a small disco ball spun from the desk of the stall. An overused dartboard painted in pink, red and yellow had darts stuck in the shape of a heart. Behind the stall stood a tall man with a mustache. He wore a suit with the name _“Gashu”_ printed on a nametag and his eyes were a hauntingly dead shade of black. His eyes weren’t cold nor threatening; they were just empty.  
  


Keiji was talking to Gashu, with Joe and Sou next to him. They seemed wrapped up in their own conversation. Joe pointed a shaking finger at the wall behind the man. Everyone’s faces were hung up on the wall, printed on large pieces of paper. Sara counted all of them; 18. There were two empty spots, however. There was an empty spot next to Kanna and Keiji. The man with the mustache barely flinched, and began to calmly explain to the three what those posters were. Sara walked over to them, and stood next to Joe.

“These are your me-tokens.”  
Gashu slid Sara, Keiji and Sou a pouch full of coins. Sara brought one closer to her eye. Her face was engraved onto them, along with the quote “SAMURAIONNA” on the sides.  
“To you, your me-tokens are absolutely useless. You can’t do anything with them,” he said, “but, you can trade me-tokens. If you trade me-tokens, you buy prizes if you have enough.”  
“What kind of prizes?” Sou asked.  
“Snacks, clothes, magazines, personal information, toys, videos-”  
“Wait, what was that thing you said?” Keiji asked.  
Gashu tilted his head to the side, “snacks, clothes, magazines, personal information-”  
“Why would we buy personal information?” Sou asked, his eyes panicked.  
“It really does raise the stakes, doesn’t it?” Gashu commented.  
“Why would we want to trade me-tokens?” Joe spluttered.  
“Maybe because you have to at least gain 20 me-tokens to survive the next week,” Gashu answered off-handedly.  
Sara frowned, “what?”  
“Instead of having to pay rent, you will pay in trading me-tokens with fellow participants. Doesn’t that sound better than rent?” Gashu said.  
“We won’t have to trade me-tokens because we aren’t staying here for that long,” Sara said coolly, “we’ll be out of here before you know it.”

Gripping the pouch of coins in her pocket, Sara quickly strutted through the halls.  
“Sara, wait!” Joe called after her.  
He had to jog to keep up with her, but quickly lost her.  
“Oh, poop,” Joe mumbled.  
Sara and Gashu had argued for twenty minutes about being able to escape. Sou had left after three minutes of their yelling, and Keiji followed suit after failing to calm Sara down. Even though it was Sara storming out, Joe believed that she won the argument.  
Unsure where to look for her, Joe quickly peeked into Classroom 1-A. He spotted Kurumada and Hayasaka; Kurumada was trying to pull huge, metal sheets that were bolted onto windows while Hayasaka just awkwardly waited for him, occasionally telling him to “cool it” and “let it go.” Joe let the two of them do whatever they were doing.

Sara sat next to the dining hall door, leaning her head against the wall.  
“Sara!” Joe exclaimed in victory.  
Sara didn’t look excited though. She didn’t look tired, just frustrated. She had sank onto the floor of a bare hallway, mind elsewhere and thoughts occupied.  
“Sara!” Joe said again.  
She snapped out of it, “oh! Joe,” she smiled.  
He sat down next to her, “Gashu doesn’t know what he’s on about.”  
Sara looked at him, confused.  
“He says all that big talk about keeping us here,” he clarified, “but he’s underestimated the power of Steelmind!”  
“Hey, I told you to stop calling me that,” Sara laughed, poking him in the ribcage.  
“I know, I know,” he grinned, “but the name fits! You’re pretty calm under tense situations, and you’re a natural leader! Remember that time at camp where we had to navigate ourselves through that forest? We got lost so many times until you took the lead! Ryoko was going to lose it!”  
“Aw, you’re making me blush,” Sara laughed.  
“So, you really think we’ll get out of here?” Sara asked.  
“I believe we will because you believe we will,” Joe answered honestly.  
“Thanks, Joe.”  
“Anytime, Steelmind.”


	9. Rules and Regulations

The two stayed on the ground for quite a while. It was overwhelming to take in such big news all at once, and being familiar with something was peaceful. Their peace didn’t last for long, as a high-pitched scream interrupted their silence.  
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”  
Sara’s mind immediately flashed back to the murder rule. She looked at Joe in fear, before taking off and sprinting towards the noise. She ran into a hallway called “Hotel Despair” and could deduct it came from one of the rooms. Hinako and Mai had also appeared, and were looking around for the source of the scream.   
“Here!” Hinako called, pointing at Anzu’s door which was slightly open. Her room was at the very back of the hallway; to the right of her room was the trashroom and Ranmaru’s room was to the left. Hinako quickly ran into the room, fists raised.   
“Augh!” Anzu said in shock, “um, hello?”  
Joe, Sara, Mai and Hinako looked at her, confused.  
“Wait, so where did that scream come from?” Mai asked.  
“Oh God, do you think it was Ranmaru’s?” Joe whispered.  
“Um, no.”  
Ranmaru stood behind them, hands in his pockets.  
“The scream was Anzu’s. We’re testing something,” Ranmaru shrugged, walking over to Anzu’s bed.   
“Yeah! We were testing out how soundproof these rooms are,” Anzu said, “turns out, I can scream all I want; as long as I have the door closed, nobody would be able to hear me.”  
“That’s… an odd design choice,” Hinako muttered.  
“Strange, right? They’ve really planned this thing out,” Anzu frowned.  
Sara frowned, “it’s not like we’ll give them what they want.”

  
Joe and Sara had checked out their rooms before heading to the dining hall. They had explored most places, and the hour was almost up. They had already passed the dining hall numerous times, but this was their first time actually going inside.  
There were a few long tables running horizontally across the room. There were huge windows reflecting a night sky. Was it that late already?  
“Ah, the reflections you see are merely an illusion,” Mishima piped in.  
Sara and Joe turned around to see Mishima, Gin, Q-Taro and a strange, green-haired lady drinking tea.   
“Q-Taro! Where’s Kai?” Joe asked.  
Sara hadn’t been paying much attention to who paired up with who, so Q-Taro and Kai’s partnership surprised her. Q-Taro seemed outgoing and friendly. Kai was distant and strange.  
“In the kitchen,” Q-Taro took a sip of tea, “said he’s cook something up for us.”  
“I offered to do it myself, as it is my job and all,” the green-haired lady said, “but he was very insistent.”  
“On that note,” Sara turned to the green-haired lady, “who are you?”  
She was extremely different to everyone else. Her outfit was elaborate; more detailed than Reko’s. She had a bulky hat that was reminiscent of a milkshake and wore a tight-fitting dress with a frothy design. She had blue ribbon loosely wrapped around her arms and neck, and her face was caked with paint. She had two teardrops drawn onto her face, and her lips were pulled into a quivering frown.  
“Tia Safalin,” she answered. Her voice was high-pitched and sweet, “the Crying Doll.”  
“We were just having some tea,” Mishima said.  
“I got a hot chocolate!” Gin cheered.  
Keiji and Sou entered the room, along with Ranmaru and Anzu. Slowly, all the pairs began to arrive. The last people to arrive was Reko, Nao and Kanna.  
“So, I guess we should get started,” Keiji said, taking a seat.  
As everyone took their seats, Safalin stood up and began walking away.  
“Bye bye, Melon Soda Lady,” Gin waved.  
“Who was she?” Hinako asked.  
“One of the ‘staff’ Midori mentioned earlier,” Kai said.  
Everyone turned to the kitchen door. Kai stood there, holding a tray of food.   
“Forgive me, I could’ve whipped up something better than fried rice had there been a bit more freedom in the kitchen.”  
He placed four large servings of fried rice, evenly spaced across the table.   
“I wasn’t aware if anyone had any dietary restrictions, so it’s vegan,” he said, sitting next to Hayasaka.  
“Wow, are we lucky to have you here,” Joe praised, helping himself to some of the fried rice.  
“… well, don’t get too attached.”  
Maybe Sara was just tired, but she swore she could make out the slightest smile.   
“Besides, there’s another staff member in the kitchen. She would’ve made dinner if me or Miss Safalin didn’t offer,” Kai said, “Miss Sue Miley, if I recall correctly.”

“So, did anyone find any means of escape?” Keiji asked.  
“Well, there’s a trash room next to the rooms. There’s an incinerator and a huge trash chute,” Mai piped up, “Midori said it just lead to the underground of the school, so it was a dead end,” she frowned.  
“How do we know Midori isn’t a liar?” Joe asked.  
“I dunno,” Hinako sipped her water, “he doesn’t strike me as a liar. And I don’t think it would be fun for him if he just lied to us all the time.”  
“There are huge metal sheets covering the windows of the classrooms. Or any rooms with windows, really,” Kurumada grunted, “can’t take them off. I tried with all my might but they won’t come off.”  
“There’s a storage room on the other side of this dining hall,” Sou said, “Keiji and I went there. It basically has everything we would need. It’s even got a unicycle.”  
“A broken unicycle,” Keiji clarified.  
“Well, it _had_ a unicycle.”  
“For some reason, the rooms are soundproof. If somebody screamed their lungs out in the room next to you, you would have absolutely no idea,” Ranmaru said.  
“Yeah! I almost busted a lung trying to prove that,” Anzu laughed.  
“There’s a prize exchange near the nurse’s office,” Joe said, “you get these things called ‘me-tokens.’ You have to trade 20 tokens a week.”  
“Why, meow?” Gin asked.  
“Um, because,” Joe looked at Sara nervously.  
“Uh,” Sara began. She did not want to have to explain how it was 20 tokens or else you wouldn’t ‘survive the next week.’  
“Well, because,” Sara started.  
“Because there are prizes. They switch up every week,” Keiji interjected.  
Her and Joe nodded in support.  
They continued talking about the places they explored. Q-Taro mentioned the laundry, and Gonbee referenced the heavily guarded door.  
“Me and Reko will have to check out those places tomorrow,” Nao looked out at the windows before checking the clock, “it’s kinda late.”

Sara dragged her tired body back to her room. She waved some people goodnight, and to her surprise, Joe and Anzu hugged her before heading off. They were certainly the affectionate type. She flung open the closet doors, hoping for a change of clothes. To her surprise, there were lots of clothes. She picked them up and scanned the tags. While there were plenty of clothes, some seemed old and others seemed new.   
_And others are three times my size,_ she frowned, picking up an awfully large, white button up shirt. She tossed it aside and found a pair of lavender pajamas. She changed into them and fell back onto her bed. She was exhausted, and thought she would fall asleep quickly. Still, she kept tossing and turning, mind racing with questions. Needing to distract herself, she picked up her e-handbook and began reading through it. It listed her name, age, gender, ultimate, and strangely, her weight and height. She kept scrolling through, and found herself reading the rules and regulations.

**Rule #1.** Participants are required to cohabitate here for the remainder of the unforeseeable future.

**Rule #2.** “Nighttime” is from 10pm to 7am. Some areas of the school will be restricted during this time, so please exercise caution.

**Rule #3.** With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore at your discretion.

**Rule #4.** Violence against any of the staff members is strictly prohibited, as is the destruction of the surveillance cameras.

**Rule #5.** The Body Discovery Announcement will play as soon as three or more people discover a dead body for the first time.

**Rule #6.** Anyone who kills a fellow participant and becomes the “blackened” will graduate, unless they are discovered.

**Rule #7.** Once a murder takes place, a class trial will begin shortly thereafter.

**Rule #8.** If the guilty party is exposed at the class trial, they will be executed.

**Rule #9.** If the guilty party is not exposed at the class trial, they will be able to leave and all remaining participants will be executed.

**Rule #10.** The blackened may only kill a maximum of two people in this _“killing game.”  
_ **Rule #11.** Midori or any other staff will never directly participate in a murder.

**Rule #12.** After a murder, the victim’s room will be unlocked.

**Rule #13.** Additional rules will be added if deemed necessary.  
  


Seeing all the rules regarding murder made Sara feel uneasy. She put the e-handbook down and stared at the ceiling. The kidnapping, the first trial and this killing game weighed down on her. She wanted to cry but she couldn’t get the tears out. Confused, and overwhelmed, she made sure to count her blessings.  
 _Joe’s here,_ she thought to herself, _Joe and Anzu and Ranmaru._  
She thought back to Joe’s words earlier, and his small anecdote about camp. She was stuck in a group with him, Ryoko, and two other strangers. They had been incredibly lost and it was getting darker by the second. Sara could remember mustering her confidence despite her own anxieties. That’s what she had to do now. She had to push through for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! I know this is going pretty slowly, but it's getting there. I can't promise a murder yet, but I can promise a motive in the next chapter.


	10. A Time Limit

Sara woke up to Midori’s annoying voice.  
“Good morning everyone! It is now 7am and nighttime is officially over! Get ready to greet another beeee-yutiful day!”   
Sara looked around her room in confusion, only to spot a monitor hung high on the wall. Midori’s grinning face looked back at her.  
“On another note, I hope to see all of you at the dining hall by 7:30! I’ve got a special something for all of you.”   
Sara frowned. Whatever this ‘special something’ was couldn’t be good.  
  
Sara was fixing up the clothes she was wearing as she walked out of her room. She found a dark purple jacket with a bulky collar and wore it over a white blouse and a skirt. It was very formal but also surprisingly comfy. She had been choosing between a dark green hoodie (with a strangely long zipper) but she was growing fond over the purple jacket.   
“Sara?” A voice asked.  
Sara turned around to see Kanna standing there. Kanna’s room was next to hers, so it was no surprise they bumped into each other.  
“Kanna! Are you feeling better?” Sara asked.  
“I just really wanted to ask you,” Kanna cringed, “about my sister…”  
Sara placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, egging her on.  
“Could Kanna have… actually saved her sister?”  
Kanna’s face darkened, “could Kanna have saved her?” she whispered.  
Sara’s heart began to speed up. In truth, Kanna could have saved her sister, just like how Joe had saved Sara. But, sometimes, she would have to lie. Lying would relieve her of that burden.  
“Kanna,” Sara began.  
“Miss Kanna?” another voice said.  
Sara looked behind Kanna. She had expected Sou or Mishima, maybe even Joe, but…  
Kai crouched down onto one knee, looking at Kanna.  
“Your first trial was unlucky,” Kai said, “I was conversing with Miss Sara earlier. Since there was only one key, Joe had to take off the restraints by force.”  
Kai looked over at Sara, “right, Miss Sara?”  
“I, um,” Sara regained her composure, “yes, he did.”  
“Mishima and Nao had each other, too,” Kai continued, “they said the same thing.”  
“N-no,” Kanna took a step away from Kai, shaking her head, “you’re just lying to protect me!”  
“It’s true, Kanna,” Sara reaffirmed, “if it wasn’t for Joe, I don’t think I’d be here right now.”  
Those words felt heavy on Sara’s tongue.   
“Even if it sounds like a lie… it won’t change the reality,” Sara said, “that’s the truth.”  
“No! You’re lying,” a tear ran down her cheek, “I killed my sister! She should’ve saved herself, but she gave me the key instead!”  
“What was she like?” Sara asked.  
“She was kind… even when we fought, she was never cruel,” Kanna wept, “she was always thinking about Kanna!”  
“Why didn’t she use that key for herself?”  
“Was it not your very existence that gave her hope?” Kai interrupted.  
“Huh?”   
“I’m sure she was a wonderful sister. I get the sense you were raised in a loving home.”  
Kanna sniffed, wiping her eyes.  
“Miss Sara, if you were Kanna’s sister, what would you say to her?”  
 _If I was her sister?_ Sara thought for a moment, before placing her hands on Kanna’s shoulders. _  
_“You being there made me strong in the hardest of times,” Sara’s tone was unsure, but slowly gaining confidence, “I’m sure… even when we’re apart, I’ll always be with you. So, don’t give in to despair!”  
Kanna looked up at Sara thoughtfully, eyes twinkling with tears.  
“I miss you, sister.”  
Kanna wrapped her arms around Sara, holding her tight.

Kanna and Sara walked into the dining hall together at 7:30. Reko called Kanna over, so Sara began to look for Joe. He was sitting with Anzu and Ranmaru, chatting. She sat down next to Joe, resting her cheek on her hand.  
“So, what do you think Midori wants us here for?” she asked.  
“Dunno,” Joe shrugged, “Keiji said it could be some more information and we were better off coming here than ignoring it.”  
“You’ve seen those surveillance cameras,” Anzu shuddered, “I don’t wanna take any chances.”  
“Puhuhuhu! You all came!”   
Sara sighed and turned around. Midori bowed down, before scanning everyone.  
“Wow, you all look so snazzy,” he commented.  
Everyone had been wearing different clothes than they had when they arrived here. Sara noticed that Joe was now wearing a dark blue, striped sweater, Ranmaru was now sporting a black jacket with gold buttons, Nao was now wearing a slightly cropped blue shirt and a matching skirt and Hinako had changed into a red sailor uniform.  
“Well, back onto what I wanted to tell you,” Midori said, “this is a killing game, y’know? And there hasn’t been any killing!”   
_Like we would kill each other for your satisfaction_ , Sara grumbled to herself.  
“So, I’ve decided to ease you into how this killing game by giving you a motive to kill! Doesn’t that sound great?”  
“What’s stopping us from walking out of the door?” Kurumada called out, “we don’t need to be here to see what the hell this motive is.”  
“You might wanna hear the motive first,” Midori answered, “since I’m really getting impatient, and it isn’t all that fun to watch you guys do nothing.”  
Midori swayed back and forth, smiling childishly, “I think I’m going to have to put a time limit! If in two days at nighttime, there hasn’t been a murder, I’ll have to punish you all.”  
“What do you mean, punished?” Gonbee asked.  
“Let’s just say you’ll face worse fates than whoever the victim turns up to be!”  
He was so cheerful. Midori rocked back and forth on his heels, swinging his arms around impatiently. He was so excited for the future that daunted everyone. For a machine, he was extremely human-like. If they didn’t have proof that he was a robot, everyone would’ve been under the impression he was just an incredibly sadistic monster.

Two days. That monster had given them two days to find an escape.  
Sara had spent the morning looking and searching for any means of escape. Joe had followed her for a bit, but he left to find Anzu by the fifth time they visited the laundry room.  
“Sara,” Joe had said, “while I do appreciate that you’re trying to find a way out, I think we should take a break.”  
“We won’t get anywhere by sitting down and doing nothing,” Sara argued, “either one or all of us die in two days. I don’t want to risk anyone’s lives.”  
“Sara,” Joe pleaded again, “everyone’s doing all they can. Keiji and Sou think they’ve found a lead but-”  
“They found a lead?” Sara asked.  
“Well, Sou thinks that he might be able to hack into the keypad on that huge door,” Joe said, “but it may take a while-”  
The door flung open and Sara disappeared.  
“I’m going to find Anzu!” Joe called after her.  
“Okay!” Sara yelled back.  
Joe sighed, running a hand through his hair. He sat on one of the washing machines, eyes closed and mind occupied. It was becoming harder to cling onto hope.

Keiji and Sou were huddled beside a janky computer in the AV room. The room was full of computers, and only this one worked.   
“I know beggars can’t be choosers but,” Sou leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms, “we need a different computer. I won’t be able to do anything if we don’t have a password.”  
Keiji sighed, sitting on the table behind Sou, “should we try our birthdays? Names? Our parent’s names?”  
“Wouldn’t it be convenient if the password was just written on a piece of paper somewhere,” Sou said, looking around the computer, “or if we had a hint? That would be brilliant.”  
“But almost certainly a trap.”  
Sou sighed, “I wish answers would just appear already.”  
“Um, hi.”  
Sou jumped, startled by the voice. He turned to see Sara by the door.  
“Joe said you guys might’ve found something,” she continued, “so, I guess I’m wondering if you found anything.”  
“I’ve found nothing but a lock screen,” Sou sighed.  
“Well, what have you tried for passwords?”  
“I’m just beginning on that,” Sou said, and began typing in _“Sou Hiyori”_ only to yield no results.  
“I would suggest you go, Miss Sara,” he said, “we’ll be here a long time.”  
He typed in _“Keiji Shinogi”_ and was met with another dead end.  
“Sure, but call me if it unlocks,” she said, begrudgingly leaving. She would’ve rather stayed and watched instead of leave, but she had the feeling Sou didn’t want her around.

Sara headed back to the laundry. She had checked Joe and Anzu’s room, but Joe wasn’t there. It was a long shot that he stayed in the laundry, but she looked inside anyhow. Of course, there was nobody there. Not even a laundry machine was on. She sighed in defeat and headed over to the dining hall. It looked like it was around lunchtime, anyway.   
The dining hall was empty except for Hinako and Mai, who were playing rock paper scissors.   
“Oh, damn!” Mai mumbled, “you beat me again!”  
Hinako smirked, “one more round to for the win?”  
“Sure,” Mai said, holding out her fist.  
Mai pulled out rock.  
Hinako pulled out paper.  
“Ugh, fine,” Mai slumped in her chair, “I’ll be on trash duty.”  
Hinako slid her a small key.  
“What’s trash duty?” Sara asked.  
“Oh, hi Sara,” Mai greeted, “well, you know the trash room? Midori said we had to do our own trash because the staff ‘isn’t paid enough’ or something. So, we’ve decided to take turns. Every week, we’ll switch to a new person.”  
Mai frowned, “this week it’s me.”  
“Oh, by the way,” Sara said, “have you guys seen Joe? I left him for a bit and I don’t know where he is anymore.”  
“Oh, Joe and Anzu are trying to make lunch for everyone. Ranmaru was with them but I think he left because to get help,” Hinako said.  
“Joe is _cooking_?” Sara asked, appalled, “he’s going to burn down the kitchen, and everyone with him.”  
A piercing scream came from the kitchen.  
“That was some good timing,” Hinako commented, only to receive a glare from Mai, “what? I was just stating the obvious.”  
Sara sighed. If Hinako didn’t tell her Joe was in the kitchen, she would’ve betted someone just got murdered.   
She walked over to the kitchen, mostly expecting that the scream came from Joe who accidentally cut his finger the tiniest bit.  
Instead, she walked into a disaster.


	11. A Hot Mess

“AAUUUGGHHH!” Joe shouted, hitting the flames with his sweater.  
The kitchen was a mess. A hot mess, actually. It was literally hot; for some godforsaken reason there was a fire and the oven was open and heated. A bunch of spices were smashed on the ground, leaving shattered glass everywhere. Anzu was perched on a bench that was heavily dusted with flour, pointing at the roof just above Sara’s head.  
“Watch out Sara! It’s gonna fall anytime soon!”  
Sara looked up. Raw pizza dough was stuck on the roof. Not just one pizza, there were three pizza dough bases stuck on the roof. Sara stepped out of the way, staying close to a wall while observing what was going on. She looked over to the stove. There was a pot full of red sauce bubbling. It was going to overflow.  
Sara raced over to the stove, ignoring Joe who was now yelling because his sweatshirt was on fire too, and Anzu who kept trying to defend herself from raw pizza dough that was five metres away from her. The sauce had been boiling, and was just beginning to overflow. She reached out to turn the knob and close the fire-  
“Joe cut himself while he was cutting the tomatoes, and-” Ranmaru walked into the kitchen, with Safalin at his side.  
Everyone stopped to look at them. These outsiders hadn’t experienced the terrors of this kitchen. Joe stopped screaming bloody murder at his on-fire sweatshirt, and Sara had rather comically frozen in place as she was about to turn the knob. The pot began to overflow, the red sauce spilling onto the stove. Anzu had fallen silent, so she didn’t have time to warn Ranmaru that unbaked pizza dough was going to fall on his head in three… two…  
“What the hell?” He grabbed the dough that was now covering his hair, “is this pizza dough?”  
“Um, yes,” Anzu said timidly.  
Sara turned back and finally switched off the stove. The red sauce was everywhere now. On the other hand, Joe had resumed shrieking about the small fire at the centre of the room.  
Sara grabbed a fire extinguisher that was propped by the opposite corner of the wall. She almost slipped as she grabbed it; the almighty power of the fire extinguisher. Sara began pulling at the metal, trying to turn it on. She kept pulling and turning, but all attempts were useless.  
“How do I work this thing?” She shouted at Joe, still screaming and pointing at the fire.  
“Give it to me!” Safalin said.  
Sara passed Safalin the fire extinguisher and watched her empty the entire thing on the fire. The room cooled down slightly; but the oven still emitted a lot of heat. Safalin shut it, looking at the mess these dumb high schoolers made.  
“Miley’s going to kill you,” Safalin said quietly.  
Joe had somewhat regained his composure, “Miley? Kai said something about someone named Sue Miley worked in the kitchen, right?”  
The door opened.  
“What the FUCK.”

“Safalin! This is why we can’t have participants in this kitchen!” Miley yelled.  
“I can’t do anything about it!” Safalin cried.  
“I. Fucking. Know. That,” she seethed, scanning the kitchen. Miley, a tall woman wearing a strange dress and a crown perched on her long, brown hair, walked over to the burned sweatshirt.  
“Oh, c’mon,” she groaned, “the sweatshirt was an original! He wore it himself!”  
“Who?” Sara asked.  
“Ugh. You plebeians wouldn’t understand,” she sighed, “I’m going to talk to Midori. I want this kitchen off-limits all the time; not just at nighttime.”  
“The kitchen is off limits at nighttime?” Sara asked.  
“I just said that,” Miley snapped.  
“But what if you need water?” Anzu asked.  
“Keep a drink bottle,” Miley grouched, picking up a broom.  
“Safalin, help me clean. You guys,” she gave the four kids a death glare, “get out. All of you,” she looked at everyone, but eventually her gaze settled on Ranmaru. He was leaning on the counter, trying to pick out the pizza dough with his right hand, and his left hand was wrapped around his torso. He met eyes with Miley, and Sara picked up on tension between the two.   
“Yeah, we should be going,” Anzu answered, hopping off the counter.   
They left Safalin and Miley to clean up their mess.

“How the hell did you guys manage to mess up the kitchen that badly?” Sara asked.  
The four kids were now sitting in the nurse’s office, letting Ranmaru wrap Joe’s bleeding hand in bandages.   
“Well,” Anzu started, “I think it started after Joe accidentally cut himself. Then Ranmaru had to go down and find Safalin so she could patch up the wound.”  
Joe waved his bandaged hand at Sara for proof.   
“Then I began throwing the pizzas in the air like you see in the movies,” Anzu nodded thoughtfully, “they all got stuck to the roof.”  
“Okay, that explains like, two questions out of my hundred,” Sara commented.  
“Shhhh, Sara,” Joe hushed, “be patient. All will be explained in time.”  
“And then that pot of tomato sauce we were making began to overflow,” Anzu recounted, “Joe went to clean it up, and the towel he was using got set on fire.”  
“You guys are absolute disasters,” Ranmaru chuckled.  
“So he began screaming, and then I began screaming,” Anzu said, “he threw the towel on the floor and I got on the counter. I knocked all those spices over,” she admitted, laughing nervously.  
“And then I came in?” Sara asked.  
She nodded, “and then you joined us!”  
“Dear God,” Ranmaru sighed, “well, looks like we didn’t need Safalin after all,” he motioned at Joe’s bandaged hand.   
_It’s a bit too heavily bandaged,_ Sara noticed.  
“I’ll catch you guys later,” Ranmaru said, “because of _someone_ , I have pizza dough stuck in my hair.”  
Anzu pouted, “in my defense, you should’ve been looking up!”  
“Whatever,” he said, smiling.

  
It was already evening; Sara had spent the day hanging around with Anzu and Joe. Ranmaru had found them later, hair still slightly damp from taking a shower (if anyone asked, Sara did not blush after seeing him. It was just very, very hot). Those three were good distractions from what was happening. It felt so good to get away, but she had to be reminded of the situation they were in. She felt a bit guilty for having fun at a time like this, but she buried the feeling inside her. Everyone was gathering at the cafeteria table, and Sara was squished between Joe and Anzu.  
“For some reason, Miley doesn’t want us entering the kitchen anymore,” Kai said, sitting down at the cafeteria table.  
“Oh, I um, wonder why,” Anzu said nervously, sharing a look between the four of them.  
“I do too,” Kai said, oblivious, “she mentioned something about ‘four,’ excuse my language, ‘stupid idiots,’ though.”  
Joe gasped dramatically, “rude! Sara and Ranmaru shouldn’t be counted.”  
Kai looked at the four suspiciously, “did you four do something?”  
Sara looked at Joe, amused.  
“Well,” Joe started, “well, you see…”  
Joe began to explain the incident in an excruciating amount of detail. By the time he finished, everyone had arrived at the cafeteria and the food was going cold.  
Kai looked at the four, face expressionless. To Sara’s surprise, his face slightly shifted to form a tiny smile.  
“That is quite the story,” Kai remarked, continuing to eat.  
  


Eventually, everyone finished eating. Sou and Keiji had been the first to leave, and Q-Taro and Gin were still talking and eating when the four students left.   
“So, what do you guys want to do now?” Anzu asked, “there’s still quite a few hours until nighttime.”  
“I need to check up on something,” Sara answered, “Keiji and Sou found a computer in the AV room. They think it might have a lead, or maybe a way out.”  
“Really?” Ranmaru asked.  
“Yeah,” Sara nodded, “I’ll be back, ‘kay?”  
And with that, Sara walked off to the AV room, leaving the three students alone.  
  
“Keiji, you idiot.”  
Sara walked in the AV room. Keiji was looking over Sou’s shoulder, mumbling into his ear about something.  
Sara cleared her throat.  
“Hello?” Sou asked, bewildered. He spun around in his chair, eyes wide, “oh. It’s just you, Miss Sara.” He looked up at Keiji, who was busy clicking around on the computer.  
“Did you guys find something?” Sara asked, approaching the computer.   
“Nope,” Sou answered, “Keiji thought he found a the password, but it came out as incorrect.”  
Sou passed Sara a pink sticky note, with 11037 written in marker. Sara paled.  
“It didn’t work on the computer or the keypad. Probably just some red herring,” Sou said off-handedly.  
Keiji finally stopped messing around with the computer, “are you okay, Sara?”  
Sara nodded. Of course, her pale face and wide eyes were obviously implying something else. She passed the note back to Sou.  
“You’re right. It’s just some random number. A stupid red herring,” she said, in an attempt to reassure herself.  
“Yeah…” Sou said, “anyways, I think I’ll be stuck here for tonight.”  
“Actually…” a voice chimed in.  
Midori popped out of nowhere. He lazily lounged on the table, in the “paint me like one of your French girls” pose.   
“Where did you come from?” Sara questioned, more curious than surprised.  
“This isn’t the time for questions, Miss Sara,” Midori said, waving her off and jumping off the table, “I just came here to say, the AV room is restricted at nighttime! You’re not allowed to pull an all-nighter here!”  
Sou rolled his eyes, “of course it’s against the rules.”  
“Is that sarcasm I hear?” Midori leaned in closely. Midori’s nose was only inches away from Sou’s, “I don’t have that much patience with drop-outs, you know?”  
Sou didn’t blink, but Sara could see his hands were trembling inside his long sleeves.  
“Okay, we get it,” Keiji said, pushing Sou away from Midori, “we won’t be in the AV room at nighttime.”  
“Perfect!” Midori clapped his hands. On the third clap, he had disappeared.  
“He’s so weird,” Sara said.  
“Yeah,” Sou mumbled, turning back to the computer, “yeah…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! If you're losing interest, at least humour me and try and stick it out 'til the next one or two chapters. I think you'll regain interest soon enough!!


	12. Nighttime Once Again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! There's a tiny, itty-bitty shred of Ransara (Ranmaru x Sara) in this chapter, so if that's your thing, enjoy I guess! Other than that, hope you enjoy!

It was nighttime once again. The thought of what could be occurring next nighttime haunted Sara. But, she did have faith in one thing. There must be a way out.

  
Sara played with the pouch of me-tokens in her pocket. She wouldn’t need them. Despite every thought of common sense, Sara opened the door to the trashroom. It was a large room, and was separated into two by a metal curtain. You could see through the curtain; the design heavily resembled blinds and a garage door. Sara peeked through. She could see an incinerator leaning against the wall, with a comically big button to turn it on and off. She reached at the bottom of the door and tried to pull it up to no avail. Inspecting it closer, she noticed she needed a key.   
_Probably the key that Mai has,_ Sara thought.  
While it was preferable to destroy the me-tokens, throwing them down the trash would have to do. Maybe it was her need for at least a sense of control over the situation, but nevertheless, Sara shook out the contents of her pouch. She clung to the belief that Sou would find something to get them out, or maybe they’d stumble across something. Whatever it was, she held the firm belief that they would escape.   
She was dead wrong, of course. That wouldn’t be that fun, wouldn’t it?

“Miss Sara,” a voice called.  
Sara turned around. Nighttime began an hour ago, and she didn’t really expect anyone else out and about.  
“Hi, Kai,” Sara said.  
“What are you doing at this hour?”  
“I could ask you the same thing,” Sara retorted.  
“Very well then. I was going to get a glass of water, but Midori warned me that the kitchen was restricted.”  
Sara looked at his cookware. He was still holding the frying pan, spatula, and ladle.  
“I would think you just came back from the kitchen,” Sara said, pointing at his cookware.  
Kai looked at his cookware absent-mindedly. As if wandering around at 11pm holding a frying pan was normal behaviour. Looking at him now, Kai was actually fairly tall. He was the same height as Joe when Joe was wearing his sneakers with the insanely thick heels. And his eyes struck Sara as familiar. His black eyes didn’t hold the endearing quality that Joe’s had; his eyes were cold and empty. Devoid of life and humanity. The same eyes as that man who chased her and Joe back home.  
Kai was her stalker.

“Miss Sara?” Kai asked.  
“Um, yeah?” Sara tried her best to hide the fear in her voice.  
“I was going to say we ought to be going to our rooms now,” he spoke calmly, as if he hadn’t terrorized her life.  
“Y-yeah,” Sara agreed. She had to get away from him. She had to get as far away as she could from him.   
Maybe a bit too quickly, Sara hurried to her room, shutting the door behind her.

It hit midnight and she was still awake. She was trying so hard to fall asleep, but it felt like something kept her awake. Or at least, wanted her awake. She turned over once again, blanket curling up around her. Lazily looking around the room, something caught her eye.  
 _Was that always there?_  
Pulling the blanket around her shoulders, she kneeled onto the floor, picking it up. The paper was tiny in Sara’s hand. It was written lightly in pencil, and the letters were quite small.

_1am, gym. Come alone, you’ll meet us there._

That was the most ominous fucking thing Sara had ever read. You see, most people in the situation she was in would be like, ‘oh hell no, I’m going to die if I go.’ Yet unlike most people, Sara thought, ‘oh hell yes, I have no self-control.’ Which is why she impatiently waited for the clock to reach 1am. Her curiousity kept her awake, impatiently checking the clock every two minutes. _Keiji and Sou must’ve written the note,_ she concluded, _they must’ve found something.  
_ Of course, it would be a lie if you said Sara wasn’t suspicious at all. She was aware of the situation she was placed in and knew the undeniably high risk she would be taking. But, she had to chase hope when she could, right?

A perfect blend of the two heroes. She would be so much fun to watch.   
Yawning, they precariously set aside a burned sweatshirt. It saddened them to lose such a priceless artifact. Clinging on to a small black and white teddy bear, they closely watched the monitors. They didn’t even notice that other person quietly slip out of the room. It didn’t matter, though. That person was completely under their thumb, anyways. That person couldn’t even point fingers. They closely watched the girl on the monitor cling onto the idea of escape.  
Such hopeful thoughts were destined for despair.

Sara wiggled the doorknob to the gym around to no avail.   
“Puhuhu!”  
Sara turned around to face that bastard again. Midori tilted his head innocently.  
“I wouldn’t go in if I were you! This place is prohibited at nighttime. Do you have a death wish or something?” Midori sighed.  
“But,” Sara began. She couldn’t tell him she was waiting for someone.   
“But what?” Midori tapped his foot.  
“…” Sara crossed her arms, “nothing…”  
“Doesn’t sound like nothing, but if you say so!”  
She sat on the ground, waiting. Whoever wrote the note would show up soon. You can’t just give someone hope and take it away from them, right?  
Midori looked down at the girl. A perfect blend. Another chance. Midori glanced at the trophies and awards. If only the girl peeked through the gigantic golden trophies and meaningless praises, she would spot a picture of Class 78. Maybe she’d put it together, maybe not. Maybe she was just as much as a wildcard as him. Didn’t really matter though. Midori turned to where Sara was sitting. Her eyes were finally fluttering shut.

“Um, Sara?”   
“Ugh…”  
“Why’re you here?” the voice asked again.  
Blinking away sleep, she looked up. A white-haired boy looked back, obviously curious.  
“I…,” Sara began, “hey, what time is it?”  
“6 in the morning,” he lent her a hand to help her up, “I thought I’d be the only one awake.”  
She took his hand and stood up.   
“What were you doing out here? Doesn’t seem like a good place to sleep,” Ranmaru said.  
“It’s a long story,” Sara admitted, still pretty groggy. Her body ached from the strange position and place she slept in.   
“Well, we’ve got a long time until anyone else wakes up,” he said, “I’ll make us some tea. The kettle and tea shoudn’t be in the kitchen anyways.”  
His face turned slightly red.  
“Of course, if you want to come. I mean, you might want to get sleep somewhere that isn’t the floor,” he said.  
“No, I think I’ll come with you,” Sara said, “it’s not like I’m tired or anything.”  
She yawned involuntarily.  
“Not tired at all,” Sara said, grinning.  
He gave her a small smile.

Yeah, Sara was really tired, actually. Ranmaru knew that because sleeping on the floor was probably uncomfortable as hell, but also because she just fell asleep.  
On his shoulder.  
At first, his main reaction was to nudge her awake. Then, he realised he probably shouldn’t wake her up because compared to how she seemed to have slept last night, this was probably good for her. So, because she needed sleep and for absolutely no other factors at all (especially reasons pertaining to his feelings towards her) he let her sleep for a bit. He explained this all to Reko, who seemed awfully suspicious of him. Then he explained this to Nao, who got all OWO. Kanna and Sou entered the room the moment Sara finally woke up, yawning.  
“Good morning, Miss Sara,” Sou greeted, nodding in her general direction.  
“Hi, Sara!” Kanna said.   
“Um, good morning again,” Ranmaru said, looking at her. He could feel his face go an unnaturally red colour. Crap.  
Sara didn’t seem to have noticed though, “oh, um, morning guys!”  
One by one, everyone filled up the seats at the table, until one seat remained empty. Ranmaru counted everyone in his head. Sara was there, joking around with Joe and Anzu, Keiji seemed wrapped up in a conversation with Kurumada, Sou and Kanna were conversing and Nao and Reko were, based off Nao’s flushed face and Reko’s smirk, flirting. Hinako and Mai were together, Gin and Hayasaka must be playing some kind of game and Q-Taro was hard to miss.   
_So who isn’t here?_  
“Hey, have you guys seen Kai anywhere?” Ranmaru blurted out. It had only just occurred to him that the odd man hadn’t turned up. In this bright crowd of colour, Kai’s only distinguishing feature was his red apron. He was pretty easy to forget.  
“Oh,” Sara looked around, “you’re right. Where is he?”  
The friendly atmosphere was quickly overwhelmed by dread. In this situation, everyone’s minds went to the same thing.   
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Joe said, interrupting the tense silence, “he’s probably just sleeping in.”  
His voice was trembling.

Everyone split up once again, all carrying their own worries with them.  
 _We just have to find him,_ Keiji thought, _and we’ll find out he’s actually perfectly fine._  
Joe and Sara were walking over in the direction of the gym. She had really stepped up. When everyone needed direction, she offered her leadership. It actually made him laugh at how incompetent he was compared to her. Well, it wasn’t the time to brood over tiny things like that. Once again, everyone split up into groups of two, and he was now stuck with the depressed Pinkie-Pie. Apparently her sister went off with Q-Taro, leaving them as the last people to be paired.   
“Who are we looking for again?” Hinako asked.   
“Kai Satou. The tall guy with long, black hair, in the red apron,” Keiji said, “have you really not noticed him?”  
“Eh,” she answered simply.  
The two walked in silence to Hotel Despair. Sou and Kanna opened Kai’s door with ease.   
“Why would somebody leave their door open?” Keiji questioned, looking over Sou’s shoulder into the room.   
“You might wanna check the rules,” Sou said.  
Keiji noticed Sou’s pale face. His eyebrows had knitted together, and Kanna had also winced in recognition of something.  
Hinako had already pulled out her e-handbook, swiping through until she got to the Rules and Regulations section. Her face, usually indifferent, was tainted by fear immediately. She passed the e-handbook to Keiji.

**_Rule #12._ ** _After a murder, the victim’s room will be unlocked._

Shit.

Ranmaru and Anzu had paired together once again. Anzu had suggested they go to the sauna to search. It seemed like a ridiculous idea, and that was the excuse Ranmaru made to wait outside for Anzu.   
“Nobody gets murdered in a sauna,” he had argued, “and I don’t think I’d want to see a dead body in a sauna.”  
“Ranmaru, you don’t want to see a dead body _anywhere_ ,” she remarked before opening the door to the sauna.  
“Point taken,” he called after her. She couldn’t hear him, though.  
Sighing, he waited outside. Well, he didn’t have to wait, really. He could search the laundry while he was at it. Anzu was making herself useful, so he should too, right?  
He pushed the door of the laundry room open, mind preoccupied by a small desire to be somewhat helpful to whatever the hell was going on.  
An overwhelming atmosphere hit him immediately. The laundry was empty and silent. The linoleum flooring and the cracked white-painted walls presented a sense of eeriness he hadn’t felt until this very moment. His eyes darted around the room. There were a lot of washing machines up against the barren white walls, and a rather out of place poster advertising lady’s bikinis right next to a small closet used to store… what was it meant for? Cleaning products, maybe? The unsettling atmosphere had disturbed Ranmaru, yet his interest was piqued by the contents of closet. The laundry wasn’t a place he had visited yet. He quietly crossed the room, eyes focused on the closet. The lights, huge, overhead lights that caught flies, were flickering. Maybe it was his own imagination, but he could feel the air go a bitter cold. He thought of the worst thing that could be behind this door. If his instincts were right, he was about two inches away from an unbreathing body.   
He yanked the door open.  
Shelves of cleaning products. Bleach, detergent, rags, all sorts of things.   
_How stupid of him to think something so awful as that,_ Ranmaru scolded himself, _of course there wouldn’t be a dead body in such a conveniently placed closet_. Turning around, he wondered if Anzu was out yet. The door was still open, somehow, and was just beginning to close. If he sprinted, he could squeeze through the quickly shutting door. It was a childish and lazy thing to do; to run through a closing door just to avoid having to open it again, but as he took his first step of his run, he stopped in his tracks.  
The tiniest speck of smeared blood.  
Ranmaru looked up.  
The door fully closed, revealing an unsettling truth.  
He found Kai.


	13. A Body Has Been Discovered!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! Hope you guys don’t have incredibly high expectations for the cases because if you do, I’m really gonna disappoint. So, sorry about that. These cases are going to be more straight forward than the games because class trials are pretty difficult to write about with no visual aid or mini games or any of that shiz.

Kai’s body had been hidden behind the laundry door. The moment the door had shut, Ranmaru was forced to bear an unbelievable truth.  
Kai was dead.  
Dried blood was pooled in his hair, and his eyes, cold and truly dead, bored into his soul.   
Kai was dead.  
Next to him lay a pristine metal pipe, only inches away from the tips of Kai’s fingers.  
Kai was dead.  
His life was stolen and now tainted the air with death.  
Kai.  
Was.  
Dead.  
The cold truth settled in, and the boy let out a shaky scream.

“A body has been discovered!”  
That sickening voice played through the halls of the wretched building.  
“After a certain amount of time, which you may use however you like, a class trial will begin!”  
Midori’s face on the monitor changed to an innocently evil smile, “everyone, please gather at the laundry!” He ordered.  
Ranmaru looked over the body – Kai’s body – face painted with shock. Anzu had heard his scream and immediately followed him here and was now standing, paralyzed in fear, right next to him. Mishima, who had also been scouring the area nearby, had burst in soon after Anzu.   
“Who… who would do this?” Anzu whispered.  
Sou, Keiji and Hinako walked in.  
“Dear God,” Hinako mumbled, crouching next to Kai’s body. She looked at his bloodied head, inspecting it.   
“What are you doing?” Ranmaru asked.  
“Looking at the wound,” Hinako answered, unnerved, “yeah, this must’ve been the fatal wound.”  
“How can you do that so calmly?”   
“Shouldn’t you be doing this? Aren’t you like, the Ultimate Mystery Guy or something?” Hinako shot back.  
“Ultimate Mystery Novelist,” Ranmaru corrected, “and writing and real life aren’t the same thing.”  
“This isn’t the time to be arguing,” a new voice snapped.  
Ranmaru turned around. He hadn’t really been paying attention to who entered the room anymore, but counted everyone as here. Sara was hanging around the back with Joe, Nao and Reko held each other tight, while Midori was-

Why was Midori here?  
Midori forced his way over to Kai’s body, averting all attention to him.  
“Puhuhu! Isn’t this such a tragedy,” he sighed, “poor, poor Kai. Whatever happened to him?”  
“Why,” Kanna sniffled, “why would somebody do this?”  
Ranmaru turned to look at Kanna. Even Gin was here. Why the living fuck were the kids here? Did nobody bother to leave them outside so they wouldn’t be exposed to a dead body?  
“Ask your allies, Miss Kizuchi,” Midori smiled, “because one of them did it!”  
“No…” Kanna muttered, “they couldn’t… they wouldn’t…!”  
“Oh, but they would!” Midori chuckled, “anyways, we can debate this in our class trial. I should show you guys what I’m really here for.”  
Midori began passing out black-and-white folders, with papers inside detailing Kai’s death.   
“These are called Midori Files! Isn’t that nice?”  
There was a huge picture of Kai’s dead body, and under that was small white text with more details.  
  
 _The victim was Kai Satou, the [former] Ultimate Heir._

_Kai’s body was discovered in the laundry room at 9 am this morning, however, his time of death is estimated to be at around midnight._

_The victim was murdered with a fatal blow from a blunt object._

_Aside from that, less major hits to the head were found, alongside minor bruising on his arms. There were no signs of any chemicals (such as poison) found in his body._

“Where should we get started?” Sou asked, breaking the silence.  
Sara looked around the room, “I think we should get two people to guard the crime scene,” Sara suggested, “that way nobody can tamper with the crime scene.”  
“I’ll do it,” Kurumada offered.  
“I’ll do it too,” Hayasaka said.  
And the investigation started.   
Sara didn’t know where to get started, but Keiji definitely did. She watched him kneel over Kai’s body, surprisingly calm, checking the wound without touching the body.   
“Keiji,” Sara said, “you’re a police officer, right?”  
“Correct,” he said, “former Ultimate Police Officer, but I worked as a detective on the most part.”  
 _What did he mean by ‘worked?’  
_ “Anyhow, the Midori Files seems to be telling the truth,” Keiji looked down at the folder, “but why wouldn’t it specify the murder weapon? Doesn’t that seem pretty important?”  
“You’re right,” Kurumada chimed in. He surprised Sara so much she took a small step back.  
“Wouldn’t it be this right here?” Kurumada pointed at a clean metal pipe, sitting next to Kai’s hand, “just based off what we know, this should be the murder weapon, shouldn’t it?”  
“For now,” Keiji said.

Joe was sitting on the laundry machines, looking upwards and away from the deceased body. His burned sweatshirt was now replaced by a white blazer jacket with a popped collar. He went through jackets really quickly.  
“Hey, Joe,” Sara slid onto the machine next to him.  
Joe was silent for a bit, before releasing a small sigh.  
“I want to be helpful, I really do,” he started, “but I don’t think I can do this.”  
“It’s okay Joe,” Sara patted him on the back, “I’ll do what I can here. Go entertain Gin. I think he needs a distraction. And bring Anzu while you’re at it.”  
Sara gestured at Anzu who was breathing heavily by the door.  
“Yeah,” Joe let out a shaky breath, “yeah, I will. Thanks Sara.”  
“For what?” Sara called out after him.  
“For being a good leader,” Joe answered, dragging a shell shocked Anzu out the room.   
Sara hopped off the laundry machine, and noticed a big dent in it. Looked like an elbow had hit it, or some kind of forceful whack. Looking at the other laundry machines, Sara noticed that more machines weren’t in the most pristine state. She hadn’t noticed it before, but one of the machines near the door had a cracked window, while some others had even bigger dents. It certainly wasn’t like that when Sara came over with Joe to this place earlier. So what had happened there?

Sara opened the wooden closet and a chemical stench hit her right away. Part of her was tempted to shut the door right then and there.  
“Oh, I checked that before I saw _it_ ,” Ranmaru called, walking over, “but going over it once again would probably be a good idea.”  
Sara crouched down, inspecting the things on the bottom while Ranmaru stood over her, checking the things near the top. On the bottom shelf, there was only really a mop and bucket which were unused, some chemicals and new-looking rags. She grabbed the bucket and pulled it over to her. While it didn’t have any water, there was clearly something in it. Sara pulled out a wet rag. An overwhelming scent of chemicals hit her like a truck.  
“Ew,” Ranmaru muttered, crouching down next to her, “is that what I think it is?”  
“Here,” she passed him the bucket, “it smells like chemicals too!”  
“I’ll take your word for it,” he pushed the bucket back into Sara’s arms.  
“Can I try something?” Sara asked, an idea suddenly popping into her head, “um, don’t be to weirded out-”  
“I was okay with it until you said that last part,” Ranmaru answered.  
“Fair enough,” she said, “catch me if I fall, okay?”  
“What are you going to do?”  
Sara shoved the rag into her face, breathing in the strong chemicals. While, of course, she had been shocked by how incredibly strong the chemicals were, she still stood her ground, perfectly awake. She removed the rag and took big inhales of the fresh air. Ranmaru, who had immediately jolted into action the moment Sara shoved her face in the rag, still had his arms out, ready to catch her if she fell.  
“I- why? What was that for?”   
“I just needed to see,” she breathed in again. Fresh air had never felt so good, “if it would work.”  
“I feel like there were better ways to figure out if it worked other than that.”  
“At least we know it doesn’t work!”  
Sara flashed him a happy-go-lucky smile.  
Ranmaru stood up, in some attempt to hide his smile.   
“I’m going to go check some other places,” Ranmaru told her.  
“Cool,” Sara nodded, “I’ll follow you, but there’s still some things I want to check out.”  
He nodded and left.

Hinako inspected a poster right next to the wooden closet. Many people had disappeared from the scene already, hopefully doing their part in the investigation. watched Hinako from a distance inspect the poster. It was a poster advertising lady’s bikinis. It was borderline lewd, and making Sara feel slightly uncomfortable. Apparently Hinako felt the same way, because she teared the poster down.  
“Why did you do that?” Sara asked, but soon she noticed it.  
Behind the poster was a huge dent in the wall. It seemed like it had been inflicted by a huge, round yet flat item at an angle. The dent went in deep into the wall, and the flaky wall was falling off around it.   
“Huh?”   
“That’s what I was thinking,” Hinako mumbled, looking at it closer, “what is this?”  
“A dent,” Sara said dumbly.  
“I know that,” Hinako responded, “can you get Mai for me? Knowing her, she’s probably decided to do her trash duties now.”  
“Oh, um, okay,” Sara nodded. Ranmaru wouldn’t mind. She’d catch up to him after this.

The trashroom was in a very close proximity to the laundry. The moment she walked out, she could hear a bit of commotion from the trashroom. Opening the door, her first thought was something along the lines of _holy shit_. Reko was holding somebody’s legs as they were slowly lowered down into the trash chute. Q-Taro and Mai were in the back, cheering them on. Gonbee was also there, distant from the action, watching.  
“What are you guys doing here?” Sara called.  
Reko almost dropped the person in shock, and the person down the trash chute let out a squeal that Sara immediately recognized as Nao’s.  
“Mai was complaining that the trash chute was jammed by something,” Gonbee explained, “so they thought it would be a good idea to shove Miss Nao Egokoro down the trash chute to fix it.”  
Sara was stunned by where their priorities were at.   
“OH! I got what was jamming the trash chute!” Nao yelled.  
They heard two huge thumps as the trash fell onto the ground of the trash chute.  
“Lift me back up Reko! If you don’t, I’ll…” Nao stuttered, “I’ll break up with you!”  
Reko pulled Nao back up instantly.   
Nao brushed herself off, as if she had just tripped. She acted so carefree despite the fact her girlfriend was just lowering her into a trash chute.   
“This was jamming the trash chute!” Nao presented triumphantly.  
She pulled out a frying pan, with the slightest bit of dried blood on the edges.  
“That belonged to Kai,” Sara said, face paling in realization, “Kai…” she whispered.  
“Oh,” Nao said, “OH!”   
She dropped the pan, face white, and took several steps back into Reko’s arms. As she did so, a small item almost went unnoticed as it bounced from Nao’s pocket to the floor. Sara was quick to notice it and pick it up. A small dog keychain, belonging to Joe.  
“Hey, where did you get this?” Sara asked, looking for Nao.   
But Nao had already left, along with Reko. Sara made a mental note to return the keychain to Joe when she saw him next again.  
“Oh, and Mai?” Sara asked, turning to Mai. Mai was looking down the trash chute.  
“Yeah?”  
“Hinako wants you.”  
“Oh, cool!” Mai skipped out of the room.   
Sara sighed, once again stunned by some people’s actions during a time like this, and went off to find Ranmaru.

“Oh, Ranmaru!” Sara called out.  
She ran over to Ranmaru, who had been pacing around the cafeteria nervously. It was a lucky guess she would find him here.  
“Oh, hey Sara,” he smiled. She noticed he had quite a nice smile, even when it was obviously fake.  
“Did you find any evidence?” She asked. Sara had decided to canvass everyone and figure out if they knew anything important.   
“Well, no,” he sighed, “I’ve just been pouring over the contents of the Midori File.”  
His finger trailed the smeared ink of his Midori File.  
“By the way, did you know Kai was the Ultimate Heir?” He asked.  
“No,” Sara answered, “I think I know everyone’s Ultimates, but I was never told his.”  
“It’s probably unrelated,” Ranmaru mumbled, “or like a red-herring or foreshadowing, but that never happens in real life, doesn’t it?”  
“Huh?”  
“Oh, just thinking out loud,” Ranmaru said, “it’s just been bothering me. And if you’re looking for information, you should go talk to Sou. He’s been in Kai’s room the entire time, and he asked about you earlier.”  
“He asked about me?”  
“Oh yeah,” Ranmaru said, “he wanted to know about-”  
He was cut short by that annoying voice everyone dreaded.  
“Puhuhuhu! I hope I’m not interrupting anything!” Midori’s face was reflected on the monitors again, “but your investigation time is over. Everyone head to the elevator room on the first floor. I’ll be waiting!”  
Sara and Ranmaru stood in silence for a bit.  
“Well, I guess we should get going,” Ranmaru said, breaking the silence, “I wouldn’t want to upset Midori.”  
Sara nodded and lead them to the elevator room on the first floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey again! I don't think I've given a list of all the character Ultimates, so here you go! Some people are lying about their Ultimates, though. So maybe this isn't the most trustworthy list...  
> 1\. Sara Chidouin - SHSL Student  
> 2\. Joe Tazuna - SHSL Friend  
> 3\. Sou Hiyori - [former] SHSL Coder  
> 4\. Keiji Shinogi - [former] SHSL Police Officer  
> 5\. Kai Satou - [former] SHSL Heir  
> 6\. Gonbee Yamada - [former] SHSL Thief  
> 7\. Reko Yabusame - [former] SHSL Rock Star  
> 8\. Nao Egokoro - [former] SHSL Artist  
> 9\. Gin Ibushi - Lil' Ultimate Animal Communicator  
> 10\. Kanna Kizuchi - Lil' Ultimate Gardener  
> 11\. Q-Taro Burgerberg - [former] SHSL Baseball Star  
> 12\. Kazumi Mishima - [former] SHSL Teacher  
> 13\. Ranmaru Kageyama - SHSL Mystery Novelist  
> 14\. Hinako Tsurugi - [future; she was scouted] SHSL Chess Player  
> 15\. Mai Tsurugi - [former] SHSL Baker  
> 16\. Shunsuke Hayasaka - [former] SHSL Violinist  
> 17\. Naomichi Kurumada - [former] SHSL Boxer  
> 18\. Anzu Kinashi - SHSL Acrobat


	14. The Start of the First Class Trial

Sara did not like the atmosphere of this room. The air was heavy with suspicion, and everyone looked at them with eyes full of doubt. Behind the crowd of colourful people was a janky looking elevator. Her and Ranmaru had bumped into Joe, Anzu and Gin who were coming from the gym. Apparently they had been there the whole time, trying to distance themselves from the despair of it all.  
“18… that makes all of us, right?” Hayasaka asked.  
“It does!” Midori, that stupid fucking bitch, appeared out of nowhere once again. He made a show of touching a button on a remote, and the elevator’s doors opened.  
“Take your sweet time,” Midori said, “actually, I can’t wait that long! Please hurry the fuck up. I’m getting bored ùwù.”  
“What the fuck,” Sou said, “did you just say.”  
“ùwù bitches.”  
And then Midori disappeared like the ùwù bitch he is.

“Sou?” Sara asked, tapping the shoulder of the timid man.  
Everyone seemed to be stalling the inevitable class trial by standing there in a tense silence, so Sara decided she may as well make use of it.  
The timid man raised his eyes to face her. Sara remembered his eyes to be soft and light. Suddenly they seemed darker. Filled with some sort of bitterness.   
“Yeah.”   
Sara was slightly taken aback. His voice and eyes had both changed; they were sharp and suspicious. He wasn’t the timid man she first met.  
 _I’m probably just overthinking it,_ Sara assured herself, _Sou’s just anxious for whatever the heck this class trial is._  
“What do you want?”   
“Well,” Sara began, still somewhat shocked from his sudden change in personality, “Ranmaru said you were asking about me?”  
“Oh yeah,” Sou averted his eyes, now looking at the elevator, “he told me everything I need to know.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
He flashed her a sweet smile, “I think we should be getting on the elevator. I mean, I wouldn’t want to keep Midori waiting, right?”  
“Y-yeah. Right.”  
Whatever darkness surrounded him at first disappeared as Sou walked into the elevator. She watched Kanna run after him and sit down on the floor beside him.  
“Sou’s got the right idea,” Joe said, “there’s no use sticking around up here, right? I don’t want to face Midori’s wrath either.”  
He forced a chuckle, and entered the elevator.   
“Well, it’s inevitable,” Hinako said, walking inside the elevator.  
One by one, everyone walked in. Soon enough, Sara was the only one standing outside. Sara braced herself, and stepped into the elevator. As soon as she did, the elevator began to sink further down, metal clanking as it pulled the weight of seventeen ultimates to the class trial grounds.

The elevator made uncomfortably loud clanking noises as they descended, oblivious to the dread in everyone’s stomachs.   
“Sara,” Joe rasped, standing next to her.  
“Yeah, Joe?”   
“I have to tell you something.”  
The seriousness in his voice made that pit of dread swirl into a tornado of anxiety.  
“What is it?”  
“I lost my dog keychain!”   
“Oh, um, I’ve actually got it right here,” Sara said, pulling the dog keychain from her pocket.  
“Well, thanks,” Joe said, “that’s not really it though.”  
“Hm?”  
“I mean, this is mine but there’s something else I have to tell you,” Joe chuckled nervously, “I’m sorry.”  
“Sorry for what?”  
“Sorry I couldn’t protect you that night.”  
But before Sara could ask any other questions, the elevator doors rattled open revealing a rather pretentious and large circular room.

There were 20 podiums arranged in a circle in the room, and an attached, small desk with a nameplate. Behind the podiums sat a large and tall throne that Midori sat on top of, with a majestic crown perched on his head.  
“Welcome, subjects, to the class trial!”  
“What the hell is this?” Kurumada mumbled.  
“The class trial!” Midori repeated.  
“This colour scheme is not doing it for me,” Reko commented, pointing out the bloody red curtains, the checkered walls, green carpet and the gold podiums.  
 _“The class trial!”_  
“Ugh,” Hinako looked at the podiums, “there’s not even a place to sit?”  
“THE CLASS TRIAL.”  
“Hey, why don’t we just stay in the elevator instead?” Anzu suggested.  
“Oh my GOD,” Midori yelled, “THE. CLASS. TRIAL.”  
“It might just be me but I think this is the class trial,” Sara said.  
“Just- oh my God,” Midori groaned, “all of you would be going straight to hell if I could break my own rules. But that wouldn’t be fun for everyone reading. Just get to your assigned podiums.”  
Sara went to her assigned podium. She was squashed between Q-Taro and Alice. The circle, from where she stood, went her, Alice, Ranmaru, Keji, Sou, Kanna, Hayasaka, Reko, Kurumada, Hinako, a portrait of a woman she didn’t recognize, Gin, Nao, Joe, Anzu, Mai, Mishima, a portrait of Kai, another portrait of a girl she didn’t recognize, Q-Taro and then her again. Midori sat behind Anzu and Mai on his big throne.   
“Um, who are they?” Sara pointed at the portraits of the two ladies.  
“They died before you could meet them,” Midori sighed, “poor Kugie and Megumi. Whatever did they do wrong?”  
Sara could see Kanna stiffen.  
“And our wonderful Kai is here too,” he gestured towards the portrait of Kai, with a huge X on his face, “just thought he might want to be included in our fun!”  
“Jesus Christ,” Ranmaru mumbled, “this is insane.”  
“Well, insanity can’t be postponed,” Midori grinned, “I’m getting tired from hearing all of you bicker around. Let’s get started, shall we?”

“Now, let’s begin with a simple explanation of a class trial! During a class trial, you will present who the killer is, and vote for ‘whodunnit.’”  
“If you vote correctly, only the blackened will receive punishment! But if you pick the wrong person… I’ll punish everyone besides the blackened, and that person will earn the right to leave!”  
“Before we begin,” Sou said, “I’d like to confirm one thing. Is the blackened really one among us?”  
“Absolutely,” Midori said, “I even watched it myself. Such a sad state of affairs, isn’t it?”  
“Oh, and if you’re wondering,” Midori said, “this trial is going to be 100% fair! It wouldn’t be as fun if I were a biased little prick.”  
“Now, let’s begin!”  
“But,” Anzu looked worried, “where do we begin?”  
“I’ll get us started,” Keiji said, “I’ve had experience with this kind of thing, so I say we should start with the basic premise of how he died.”  
“That’s simple,” Gonbee said, “he was hit in the head by that huge pipe we found beside his body! Then, yikes! He died!”  
“No, that’s wrong,” Sara muttered thoughtfully.  
She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn’t notice everyone had turned to look at her.  
“Go on,” Keiji said.  
“Well, I don’t think he was killed by the metal pipe. I think it was planted there as a red herring or something. I mean, you saw Kai’s body. It should have been covered in blood but it was pristine.”  
“I don’t see any other viable murder weapons,” Gonbee said, “and couldn’t the murder weapon be washed?”  
“Why was the murder weapon if you’re going to leave it behind at the crime scene?” Sara shot back.  
Gonbee went quiet.  
“So, I don’t believe that the metal pipe was the murder weapon.”  
“Then what was?”  
“Nao?” Sara asked, turning her attention to the girl with feathered hair.  
“I didn’t do it!” She squealed.  
“Not what I was going to ask you,” Sara said, “remember what was stuck in the trash chute?”  
“You mean the frying pan?”  
“Exactly,” Sara turned around to Gonbee, “I think the frying pan was the murder weapon. It was even a bit bloody. There was even a dent in the wall that is more likely to have been made by a frying pan than a metal pipe. A pipe is too wide to make a dent that deep or flat.”   
“So you’re saying that the frying pan was used to kill Kai, before being disposed down the trash chute,” Gonbee said, “and the metal pipe?”  
“Probably something the perpetrator picked up from the trash room, and used as a red herring.”  
“Ah, I see,” Gonbee said, “I was really just testing you, Sara Chidouin. Congratulations, you passed!”  
“That doesn’t answer anything,” Sou cut in, “so he was killed by a frying pan. That tells us nothing about how he died.”  
“Whoever murdered Kai must’ve been planning to kill him,” Anzu suggested.  
Sara thought back to the state of Kai’s body. Prepped up against the wall so that only when you were inside and the door closed shut you could see him. Not hidden at all, and all attempts at covering up the crime scene or throwing the investigation off were awful. I mean, she just solved the case of what actually killed Kai in two minutes. It was as if someone was in a rush. Definitely not planned.  
“No,” Sara said, “I think he was killed in the heat of the moment. You saw how his body and evidence were disposed of, right? It was poorly planned.”  
“Just because something was planned doesn’t mean it’s going to be good,” Sou pointed out.  
“I know but there’s something off about it,” Sara said, “hey, Ranmaru?”  
The white-haired boy looked up at her.  
“Remember that thing we found?”  
“Um,” Ranmaru tilted his head in thought, “that rag?”  
“There was a rag we found that was covered in some sort of chemical,” Sara explained, “and I think it was meant to be used as some makeshift chloroform. But in the Midori File it says there were no signs of any chemicals in his body. If this was a planned murder and Kai was the planned victim, the chemicals should’ve been found in his body, right?”  
“So why weren’t there any chemicals in Kai’s body?” Nao asked.  
“Because Kai wasn’t the intended victim,” Sara said.  
“He was the perpetrator.”

“Puhuhu! So the plot thickens!” Midori grinned. He was enjoying himself way too much.  
“But what other evidence do you have?” Kurumada challenged, “a bunch of missing chemicals isn’t enough to convince us.”  
“The murder weapon – the frying pan – was hastily shoved into the trash chute,” Sara thought out loud, “and if you look a bit closer at some of the washing machines, you’ll notice a few dents and cracks on the washing machines. On the other hand, we know Kai must’ve been armed with that makeshift chloroform and his frying pan, and some sort of method to lure the victim… well, victim-turned-perpetrator, in.”  
“Ah, Miss Sara,” Sou said, halting Sara’s train of thoughts, “this is where I come in.”  
Sara looked at him, confused. What did he mean?  
“If your boyfriend over there is to believe, you weren’t in your room last night, and presumably, when Kai was murdered.”  
Sara looked at Ranmaru who seemed confused. So this must’ve been what Sou asked him about. Her whereabouts when Kai was killed.   
“Well, yeah,” Sara admitted, “I found a slip of paper under my door that told me to head to the gym at 1am.”  
“And how do we know you aren’t lying?”  
Sara felt all eyes on her. All suspicion fell onto her now. And now she had to show them the truth.  
“I have the note right here,” Sara said, trying to keep her tone as steady as possible, “see?”  
She pulled the note out her pocket. In tiny letters was the message she claimed.

_1am, gym. Come alone, you’ll meet us there._

“Wait, so you got a note as fucking ominous as this and you listened to what it said?” Sou asked, incredulous to this girl’s choices.  
Sara shrugged in response.  
“But the real question is,” Ranmaru said, “who wrote this note and why did they need Sara? And how does this tie into the case?”  
“Well, duh! Kai had to be the guy who wrote the note,” Anzu interjected.  
“And as of now,” Keiji said, “why they wrote the note isn’t the matter. We’ll probably just end up being stumped if we consider that now. We should focus on what happened instead.”  
“So Kai wrote one note to Sara,” Reko said, “and where does that get us?”  
“Kai wrote two notes that night,” Sou said, “look at this.”  
Sou picked up a notepad. He had shaded over the paper, revealing indents in the paper. On the sheet, the top of it said _‘1am, gym. Come alone, you’ll meet us there,’_ but at the bottom of the sheet was a different message.

_Midnight, laundry. Meet me there._


	15. Last Night at Midnight

_Midnight, laundry. Meet me there._

Sara was not the only recipient. Kai wanted somebody else to meet him that night.  
“So that must’ve been what he meant by ‘us,’” Keiji said.  
Sara looked back at her own note. _‘1am, gym. Come alone, you’ll meet us there.’_  
“Kai wanted Sara to meet up with somebody else?” Reko asked, “but didn’t we just establish that Kai tried to murder that person?”  
“Not necessarily,” Ranmaru interjected, “we only said that Kai tried to drug this person. Not that he tried to murder them. The culprit must’ve fought back using Kai’s own weapon – his frying pan.”  
“Whoever this person was,” Sara said, “Kai knew they wouldn’t come willingly. So he tried to force them to come.”  
“That gets us nowhere,” Kurumada complained, “so we’ve figured out that the aproned man wanted that highschool girl to meet up with him and somebody else. You know what that doesn’t tell us? _Who_ he met up with.”  
The room went quiet. No matter all the revelations they’ve discovered, it was all useless. All eyes turned to Sara once again. She admitted to being out at night, and Ranmaru had even seen her sleeping outside her room the next morning. Of course all suspicion was thrust onto her.  
“Sara,” Q-Taro said, “what happened that night?”  
“I went to the gym, but it was locked because entering the gym is prohibited at nighttime,” she felt a cold sweat trickle down her forehead, “I was pretty tired, so I ended up sleeping while I waited.”  
“And how do we know you aren’t lying?” Gonbee asked.  
“O-on the note! It says to meet them at 1am, not midnight!”  
“And who said you didn’t go out at midnight?” Hayasaka questioned.  
“B-because,” Sara stuttered, “I didn’t do it! I was only out at 1am, I swear!”  
Suspicion weighed on her shoulders, slowly wrapping itself around her neck and choking her. She had to keep going. If they all voted for her they would’ve chosen wrong. Sara didn’t want to know what would happen if they got it wrong.  
“I,” Sara began, “it couldn’t of been me. Whoever the culprit was would’ve gotten bruises from fighting back, right?”  
Tricky logic, but it was all she had. She took off her jacket and showed her arms. They were blemished with some freckles, but no bruises or wounds.  
“See? So it couldn’t of been me!”  
“I know, Miss Sara,” Sou said. Maybe she was just dreaming, but she could hear the slightest hint of disappointment in his voice.  
Sou looked away from Sara, eyes resting on somebody new. Somebody who had barely spoken a word since they started.  
“Joe?” Sou glared at Joe, who was standing by his podium, “where were you last night?”

Kanna looked back at Sou. The timid nature she associated with him for so long had disappeared completely, revealing a side Kanna could only describe as ‘not-so-nice.’  
“What are you talking about?” Joe asked back. For now, he remained composed. Soon enough he would be breaking down.  
“Last night at midnight,” Sou looked Joe straight in the eye as he spoke clearly, “you left your room, didn’t you?”  
“I,” Joe begun, “n-no! I never did!”  
“Then what’s this?”  
He reached into his pocket, pulling out a picture.  
“Look at this,” Sou showed everyone a picture of the dark hallway in Hotel Despair. In the dim light, from a surprisingly low position, you could just see the silhouette of a tall boy walking away. One of his fists was curled up into a ball, holding a tiny shred of paper. While the light was dim, you could clearly make out the uniquely messy brown hair. In the corner was the time; 11:58pm.  
Sara at Joe, hoping to spot confusion in his face. To look into his eyes and see innocence.  
But when she looked at him, his eyes reflected panic.

“J-Joe?” Sara looked at Joe, but he averted his eyes, “this is staged, right? I mean, where did you even find a camera?”  
“AV room,” Sou answered, “Keiji was with me when I found it.”  
Sara looked at Keiji who nodded silently.  
“This has to be staged,” Sara said, “right Joe? Right?”  
Joe wrapped his arms around himself, not saying a word.  
“Joe…” Sara begged, “say something! You can’t give up just like that! Especially since you’re innocent!”  
“J-Joe!” Sara yelled, “say something! Defend yourself!”  
When Joe looked back up, his eyes were wet.  
“Sara,” Joe said, “where did you find my dog keychain?”  
“Down the trash chute,” Sara answered off-handedly.  
“And where did you find the frying pan?”  
That unsettled Sara. She looked over to Nao. Her face was pale.  
“I found it down the trash chute,” Nao answered honestly.  
Joe gave the smallest and saddest smile.  
“I think it’s obvious who we should vote for now,” Sou interjected.  
“Sou, shut up,” Sara snapped, “Joe! What are you saying?”  
“I think it’s pretty obvious who we should vote for,” Joe answered. His voice was shaky yet eerily calm.  
“Are you confessing?” Keiji asked Joe. Keiji was still as cool-headed as ever, with one hand resting on his neck, and the other on the podium, his head tilted to the side in curiosity.  
“I,” Joe flashed a quick glance at Midori, “yes. I killed Kai.”  
“You’re lying,” Anzu said, “you couldn’t have killed him!”  
“But I did!” Joe yelled back, “he tried to drug me, but that didn’t work, did it? I grabbed his stupid frying pan and swung, okay? I thought he was trying to kill me!”

He could feel the world drown out. Joe knew he was yelling though; in the thick atmosphere he was trapped in, he could hear his voice cut through like a knife.  
“I’m sorry!”  
His fate was truly sealed. There was no backing out of it anymore. This was the point where the doors closed on him. Where he fell into that deep pit of despair, before everything disappeared completely. Joe’s knees buckled, and he fell onto the podium. He was trying to hold it together, he really was. This is what he’d give his life up for, wasn’t it? Protection. It seemed so reasonable, so noble, back then. But now he was really going to die. Why did he have to play the hero?  
“And that would be our confession,” Sou looked at Joe. He couldn’t say what he felt towards him; whether it was pity or anger. He killed someone, but it was self-defense. Sou was the one who presented the evidence that would lead to his demise, but that was a burden he’d have to bear.  
Looking around, Joe’s cries for help seemed to have an effect on everyone. Nao seemed close to tears herself, while Anzu was crying. Even tough guys like Kurumada and Gonbee had showed signs of uneasiness. Sara especially. She was completely still, but silent tears ran down her cheeks. He could tell what she was thinking; that it couldn’t be true. Sou looked at the photograph. When he saw the picture the first time, he also didn’t want it to be true. Nobody wanted to suspect others, but you had to in order to survive.  
“I think we’re ready to vote now,” Sou said. Had anyone else spoken, their voice would’ve been filled with uncertainty. On the other hand, Sou spoke clearly. This was the truth. The hard truth, he could tell from Sara’s teary eyes, but nevertheless, the truth.  
“Okay!” Midori grinned at everyone’s uneasy faces, “then let’s get started! Who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?”  
Nobody wanted to be right about this. Nobody wanted to click Joe’s smiling face as the blackened. Nobody wanted to be choosing who murdered an ally.  
“Looks like you got it right on the money!” Midori cheered, “the blackened in this case, the one that killed Kai Satou…”  
“Was none other than Joe Tazuna!”  
Sara let out a tearful sob.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! If you dropped out in the middle of reading this chapter I can't blame you. I know being self-aware doesn't forgive how awful this class trial was. Personally, I'd compare this trial to Rantaro's or Mukuro's. Rantaro because the protag's friend dies and Mukuro's because her trial made me go "wOW okay then bye bye beloved character." Or maybe it's something else that reminds me of those class trials. Whatever it is, I don't usually reference things without good reason. Other than that, next chapter will be the execution!


	16. SACRIFICE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey!  
> Trigger warning for: graphic descriptions of gore and blood, choking/noose, and a violent first execution.  
> I'm not very good at knowing what to add trigger warnings for, so if I missed anything please tell me!

“Why?” Sara asked, “but… but why?”  
“I,” Joe mumbled, “I had no choice.”  
Joe gave her the smallest smile, a trembling smile that was trying to hide what was shattered underneath.  
“I’m sorry everyone,” Joe apologized, “for tricking you… for not saying anything.”  
“But why?” Kurumada asked, “no offense, but I can’t imagine someone like you delivering a fatal blow to the head like that. Even for self-defense, he caught you pretty off-guard. I wouldn’t be able to punch at my best if I were surprised.”  
“It wasn’t just that,” Joe looked at Sara, “Kai was the guy who kidnapped us.”  
The room went silent.  
“Kai was on the side of the kidnapper’s this whole time and ended up getting himself killed,” Gonbee thought aloud, “pretty ironic, not gonna lie.”  
“When Sara got knocked out I ran up after her,” Joe looked at Sara, “and it was Kai that was standing there.”  
Joe looked down at his hands, powerless.  
“I didn’t want to tell you because it would make you worry, Sara,” Joe said, “but looking back, I really should’ve told you.”  
“Joe…”  
“So you weren’t just fighting for your life,” Keiji said, “you were also fighting as revenge for taking you two here.”  
Joe shrugged in agreement.  
“Heh,” Joe covered his face in his hands, “I don’t wanna die.”  
When he looked up again, his eyes were red and cheeks stained with tears.  
“I don’t wanna die,” he repeated.

  
With his hands tugging at his hair, his knees buckled and the world fell around him. Joe couldn’t feel Sara or Gin wrap their arms around him, trying to shake him from the gruesome end that awaited him. So he would die. He knew that. He knew he was going to die, and he should’ve chickened out back them, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t he couldn’t he couldn’t he couldn’t he couldn’t he couldn’t he couldn’t.  
Joe could wrestle with his thoughts forever. What he did… why he did it. He didn’t have too, but he did it anyways. This dark hole of despair would eat him up. He wouldn’t be able to come back from this. Maybe _she_ would.  
Joe finally looked up at Sara, who was hugging him. She would be fine. She would go back to her loving parents, and go to school. Sara would then go on to see _her_ , Ryoko, and they would live life wonderfully. With no threats or killing games or despair haunting them. They would be happy, even without him. If he was going to die for something, it was going to be for his friends’ safety and happiness.  
  


With the little strength he had, Joe wobbled back onto his feet. He looked so pathetic; red eyed, sweating profusely, with tear-stained cheeks.  
“I dunno,” he laughed sadly, “I just dunno…”  
“Joe,” Sara begged, “I don’t believe it! This isn’t,” she sucked in a breath, “this isn’t – this can’t be happening!”  
“Sara,” he still smiled through the intense despair, “do me a favour, will ya?”  
He clasped her hands, “survive for me, okay? Then when we… I mean, _you_ , get back home, take Ryoko on another date for me. I’ve got some spare money in my piggy bank, so it’s still gonna be on me!”  
He said everything so lightly, but the slight tremor in his voice easily gave him away.  
“All of you guys,” he lifted his head to address all the participants, “are my friends. So… work together and do your best!”  
Sara succumbed to another sob.  
“and one last thing, Sara,” Joe said, turning back to her, “it’s hard for a guy and girl to say this kinda stuff to each other, huh?”  
Joe grabbed Sara’s hands, squeezing them tightly. He gave her one last grin.  
“I love ya, Sara! You’re my best friend!”

“Dear God,” Midori interjected, “that took sooooo long! I mean, I was basically going to die from boredom, and I’m a dummy!”  
Midori rubbed his hands together, face alight with twisted excitement.  
“So, ladies, gentlemen and everyone else! Prepare yourselves for a special little execution for Joe Tazuna, the Ultimate Friend!”  
“N-no,” Sara whispered.  
Long pipes of metal moved towards him. Joe didn’t run, he stood there, paralyzed and terrified, as one of the pipes that was remarkably different from the other ones went straight for his neck. It had a huge, claw-like addition at the end of it, and in the blink of an eye had secured itself around Joe’s neck. His eyes widened in fear, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream as the ground disappeared from underneath him. With one arm reaching out towards Sara, Sara ran towards Joe but it was hopeless. He was already hanging in the sky and the metal pipes threateningly stayed by his side. Joe was choking, and was desperately trying to save himself. But his hands were no match for the deathly grip of the claw. He could feel the world slipping from his sight. So this was how he died? Hanging in the sky, so far apart from all of his friends. He would die alone.  
“Augh!” Joe let out a choked gasp.  
Those metal pipes that had been hanging by his body plunged into his skin. There was one stuck straight into his side, no doubt piercing his lung. Blood was filling up. He couldn’t fight the claw around his neck or the pipes that seemed to be sucking out his blood because two pipes had dug themselves deeply into his arms. It was such a strange feeling; everything was going cold. All he could taste was that coppery sting of blood. How was he still alive? His breathing was getting more and more shallow by the second.  
Joe, with the smallest bit of strength, looked down. There was Sara, screaming as she reached out towards him.  
_I love you,_ Joe thought, _take care of Ryoko for me._  
There was no more blood left. No more breath. No more life in Joe Tazuna.  
Joe expired.

Sara fell to her knees. The small sign in front of her read SACRIFICE. No doubt the title of Joe’s execution. How fucking awful. To reduce Joe’s existence to this? To put him in so much pain, so much agony, so much _despair_ , and then reduce an entire person to that. SACRIFICE. Every sob shook her entire body, and with her warm tears and heartbreaking sobs, a hand on her shoulder woke her up.  
Anzu looked back at Sara, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Sara wrapped her arms around Anzu, and pulled her down to the floor. The two girls sat there, sobbing into each other’s arms over the loss of their beloved friend.

“Puhuhuhu!”  
“What the fuck is wrong with you!” Reko yelled, “how the fuck could you do that to someone!”  
Midori ignored her, and kept on laughing.  
“That… that _despair!_ It’s so wonderful! And your terrified faces,” Midori sighed, “absolute pieces of art. Everyone, take a screenshot! Pure despair isn’t something you’ll see often!”  
“Why would you do this?” Nao asked. Her voice was so small and heartbroken, “what did we do?”  
“That’s the thing,” Midori said, “you did nothing. Seeing innocent people be thrust in a situation like this is just so despairful.”  
“I’m going to kill all of you.”  
All eyes turned to Kurumada.  
“All of you motherfuckers! You all deserve a fate worse than Joe’s! Who the fuck kills a child?” Kurumada yelled, “I am going to kill all of you. Everyone behind this goddamn killing game will fucking die! I’m going to kill all of you!”  
Midori went silent. His eyes bored into Kurumada’s soul.  
And then he began to laugh.  
“HAHA!”  
It wasn’t anything like the chilling laugh they had grown accustomed too. This laugh was… genuine.  
“The kidnappers aren’t your enemy, dumbass,” Midori wiped a tear from his eye, “no, the mastermind behind this killing game is one of you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey!  
> And that would be kinda a milestone for the fic, right? The first execution; SACRIFICE, tailored for Joe Tazuna the Ultimate Friend.  
> Once again, if I missed any trigger warnings please tell me! And also how do you feel about the fic so far? Anyways, have a good day or night!


	17. I and He

Oh, it was fun.

It was so incredibly thrilling to watch their faces melt with despair.

The blood, the anguish, the end.

Sara was crying.

Keiji Shinogi was frozen in place.

Even Sou Hiyori seemed extremely disturbed.

If I could stay in that moment forever, I would.

Just to be surrounded by that despair.

To be blessed with this despair is such a gift.

No wonder Junko Enoshima died for this.

No wonder I fought so hard for this.

A laugh rises in my throat but I quickly swallow it.

I’d be marked insane if I were to laugh after Joe Tazuna expired.

Holy fuck.

He wasn’t one to swear that often – he prided himself on his clean mouth, but holy fuck. This couldn’t be happening.

His eyes were glued onto the TV, where Joe’s dead body hung in the sky and droplets of his blood dripped onto the ground.

The phone rang. The birds chirped. The wind whistled.

He was frozen in place, watching Sara and Anzu cry over the loss of their dear friend.

_This couldn’t be happening._

_Please, let this nightmare end._

A swift knock on the door was immediately followed by the door swinging open. She didn’t need his permission to enter.

She wrapped her arms around him, and he buried his face into her lavender hair.

Worry, fear and anxiety piled up inside of him. He hadn't had this feeling in ages - this feeling of despair.

He thought this was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! I know this is a really short chapter, but I thought it might give some perspective to show you the mastermind and an outsider's POV.


End file.
